Welcome to Vale High
by mikotyzini
Summary: Yang knows that school can be hard for some, which is why she goes out of her way to be friends with anyone and everyone. Vale High's newest student, however, captures much more of her interest than usual - sending her on a quest to learn more. (Bumblebee High School AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to a new story! I'm excited to finally post this one, which will update every Saturday just like WDU. And, just like WDU, patrons on my p/atreon page will have access to chapters a week early. (Plus some other stuff, so feel free to check it out!)**

 **This one has a MUCH different feel than WDU, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. It was nice to get back to some Bumblebee after one (very long) story away.**

 **A big thank you to darknessisnotmyfriend over on Tumblr for the cover art!**

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"Bye Yang!"

"Bye guys!"

Smiling, Yang waved to a couple of friends while they ran past her to meet their parents. After watching the two girls hop into their dad's car, she grabbed the straps of her backpack and looked around. The front lawn of school was packed with kids right now - some walking home, some running to catch the bus, and others waiting for their parents to pick them up.

She'd go home in a bit, but first she needed to wait for...

"Ruby!" she called out, standing on her tiptoes and waving when she spotted her little sister tumbling through the front doors with another group of students.

"Yang!"

Separating from the crowd, Ruby ran over to Yang - the cute little monkey tail on her backpack swinging all over the place while she tried to get her short legs to move in some sort of coordinated way.

"Woah there!" Yang said right before Ruby plowed into her for a hug.

Seeing as how Ruby didn't slow down one bit, she knocked Yang backward a step in the process. After regaining her balance, she wrapped her arms around Ruby's thin shoulders and squeezed extra tight - because that's what family was supposed to do after being separated for a whole day. If they missed each other, they were supposed to hug extra tight - that was the rule!

Only when Ruby was sufficiently squeezed did Yang let go.

"How was your day?" she asked, holding Ruby's hand and leading them away from the entrance of the school.

That was another rule - hold hands when near cars or the street or anything Ruby might accidentally fall into, over, or on top of. It was hard to figure out when Ruby might trip over nothing though, so Yang held her sister's hand basically all the time - just in case.

"Today was good! A lot better than yesterday!"

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

While they walked towards the edge of the school's playground, Yang looked down and found Ruby's brow creased in deep thought at the question.

"Because...today is Tuesday. And yesterday was Monday."

After waiting a few seconds, Yang giggled when it became obvious that Ruby had nothing else to say.

Sometimes, Ruby never ran out of words. Sometimes, she ran out of them really fast and made up her own. Most of the time, she was just a little weirdo...

"Tuesday _is_ better than Monday," Yang agreed, leading them off the sidewalk so they could cut around the side of the school.

Unlike a lot of the other kids, Yang and Ruby lived in one of the neighborhoods right behind the building. This meant they could walk home instead of waiting for a ride or taking the bus, which was really lucky! That's what Dad said, at least.

But they had to walk _alllll_ the way around the building to get home. It wasn't too bad most of the time, especially when the weather was nice. Like today, it was nice and sunny. Plus, Yang liked walking with Ruby! Or running with Ruby, if it was raining.

"What'd you learn today?" Yang asked, allowing Ruby to swing their joined arms high in the air with each step.

"Multiplication!" Ruby answered, grinning that gap-toothed smile she'd had ever since losing one of her front teeth last week.

"Oh yeah? Then what's one times one?"

"One!"

When Ruby hopped while she answered, Yang smiled and nodded.

"And two times two?"

"Four!"

"Eight times seventeen?"

"Yangggg! That's no fair!"

Yang giggled while Ruby pouted up at her, those puppy dog eyes shimmering in the sunlight.

That _was_ an unfair question, but what if Ruby could answer it? She'd be a genius! A math wizard! And then she could help Yang with her homework.

"Ok, ok. Three times three?"

This time, Yang watched Ruby count to three multiple times using the fingers on her free hand before shouting "Nine!"

"Good job!" Turning to the side, Yang gave Ruby a big smile while Ruby beamed up at her.

She was about to ask another question when something made her pause – something out of place in their normal walking-home routine. School buses in the distance, voices from the front of the school, Ruby humming softly to herself, but there was something else…

When they reached the rear of the school building, she figured out what it was.

There was a group of kids standing behind the school, tucked out of view unless people were walking home through the neighborhoods like Yang and Ruby. Usually, no one was back here - which was why Yang thought it was strange - but it was just some kids talking. Four boys and a girl, all around her age.

Shooting a glance their way, Yang pulled Ruby towards the path cutting between two houses - the path leading them home. Before they left school grounds behind, however, her feet stopped.

Something about this bothered her, but what was it?

Turning around, she took a closer look at the kids to see if she recognized any of them.

They were in her grade but in one of the other classes so she didn't _really_ know them. She only kind of recognized them from passing them in the halls and stuff. What she _did_ know was that the boys were loud and kind of annoying, and people called the girl 'book girl' because she was always reading - even at lunch.

Yang didn't know them, but from what she _did_ know, it didn't make sense for them to hang out together.

"What're they doing?" she muttered to herself, watching the interaction unfold with more and more concern.

Deep down, she already knew what was going on, but she liked giving people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe book girl helped the boys with their homework! Or maybe they were teaching her how to be a bully? Because that's what they were...

"Yang?"

Glancing down, Yang found Ruby staring up at her with an expectant expression, waiting to hear what they would do next. It was the innocence in Ruby's eyes that made Yang turn away from the group, knowing that they should just go home. This wasn't any of their business. If Ruby wasn't with her, she might go see what was going on, but...

But she knew what they were doing. The boys' laughter gave it away - it was the type of laugh that was supposed to make other people feel bad. And then there was the way they stood - surrounding the girl instead of including her.

They were picking on her.

It had happened to Ruby a couple of times when she started school, and it was the same every time. The bullies were always bigger, stronger, and traveled in a group. They picked someone small and innocent to tease or push around. Yang hated it. She didn't get mad often, but she hated seeing people get made fun of for no reason.

When Ruby got picked on and Yang found out about it, she'd stepped in to help - and got in a lot of trouble. That was for Ruby though. They were sisters. Yang didn't even know this girl...

"They're mean…" Ruby whispered from beside her as another chorus of cruel laughter cut through the air. Seeing Ruby's downcast expression, Yang immediately frowned.

Maybe she didn't know this girl, but she wasn't going to walk away - that was for sure.

"Hold on, Ruby. Stay here."

Dropping her sister's hand and clenching her teeth, Yang walked towards the group.

"Yang!" Ruby immediately called out, stumbling through the grass after her. "We should find a teacher!"

"A teacher won't be any help."

"Dad said no more fighting!"

Yang cringed at the thought of making Dad mad again, but he was the one who taught them to do the 'right' thing. And the 'right' thing was what _felt_ right. Well, this felt right.

Closer to the group now, she could see the boys jeering at the girl while rifling through a backpack that probably wasn't theirs. It was purple, which didn't seem like their color, and they were still wearing backpacks of their own.

"Dad said no more fighting when _you're_ involved," Yang explained before holding out a hand to keep her little sister at bay. "Wait here."

Thankfully, Ruby froze in place, and Yang walked the last few steps alone.

The boys were pulling everything out of the backpack - books, notebooks, pencils - and tossing it all onto the dirty ground. All while laughing at someone else's expense.

Maybe Yang didn't know this girl, but her tearful eyes were more than familiar. It was the same look Ruby had the last time this happened - filled with sadness and fear. It was the look of someone who wanted to disappear, even though they hadn't done anything wrong.

Dad said it was important to stand up for what was right, no matter how hard it was. Doing the right thing wasn't always supposed to be easy, he said. Sometimes it was one of the hardest things to do, but they still had to do it.

This wasn't the hardest thing to do, but Yang knew it would get her into trouble. She didn't want to get in trouble, but she wasn't turning around now. She'd just explain to Dad that what they were doing was _wrong_. And if it was wrong, she couldn't walk away. She had to try to help.

"Please," the girl begged the boys in a quiet, sniffling voice. "Just give it back..."

The boys only laughed harder at her plea and threw all of her school supplies onto the ground by their feet.

"Ohhh what's this?" one of them asked, pulling out what looked like a regular book and flipping through the pages. "Why do you carry all these books around, huh? No wonder they call you book girl!"

When he laughed, his buddies followed suit. None of them had noticed Yang walking over, especially not the one she guessed was the ringleader - the one with his back turned towards her.

"You're such a nerd," he added before passing the book to his friend. The second boy briefly flipped through the pages before unceremoniously dropping it on the ground and laughing.

"Whoops. My bad."

Hearing everything they said, Yang felt her frown deepen. They were taking advantage of their size to push the poor girl around, and she really didn't like that. It made her mad, but that didn't mean she wanted to fight them. She just wanted them to stop.

So she tapped one of the boys on his shoulder, causing him to spin around in surprise.

"Give her her stuff back," she ordered as calmly as possible.

Up close, he was bigger than she anticipated - several inches taller than her and far heavier. But even when he smirked down at her, she refused to budge.

"Who's gonna make me?"

"We are!"

Smiling at the sound of Ruby's voice, Yang felt a surge of confidence flow through her. She didn't know why all sisters didn't get along like they did, because Ruby was her best friend - they stuck together no matter what. And, even if Ruby was way smaller than any of these boys, she wasn't afraid - just like Yang taught her. Don't be afraid, but don't do anything stupid. Stand your ground and wait for Yang to come help.

But Yang told Ruby that she wasn't old enough to help yet, so she had to stay a safe distance away. Her moral support was all the help Yang needed.

Ruby's words caught the attention of all four boys though, turning each of them towards Yang. The leader shoved the backpack into his friend's stomach and raised another book high above his head, out of her reach. His grin said that he knew Yang would have to jump to get it and, if she tried, he would just move it away.

"Why don't you take it then?"

Narrowing her eyes at the dare, Yang quickly decided what she would do next. Thankfully, if there was anything to love about a bully, it was that they were usually pretty dumb.

Sure, he could hold the book high about his head, but it only left his face more open.

While he smirked at her, Yang swung her fist forward and punched him in the nose as hard as she could. Yelping in pain and surprise, he dropped the book and doubled over clutching his face. The other three bullies briefly looked confused, but that only lasted a second before the other boy threw the backpack on the ground and ran towards her.

He tried to grab ahold of her, but she threw her fists everywhere. It didn't matter _what_ she hit as long as she hit _something_. One of them pulled her hair, making her yelp in pain, but then she stomped on someone's foot. Whoever the foot belonged to howled before hopping away, leaving just two against one.

One of them grabbed her by the wrist, and she couldn't pull away because he was too strong. When the other one swung a slow punch towards her, she ducked and then slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Stop! Stop it right now!"

The voice was loud and filled with authority - and they all froze at the same time, their fight coming to an abrupt end. The boy holding her wrist dropped it like it was on fire before backing sheepishly away from the teacher now towering over them.

"What do you think you're doing?" the woman asked, her voice shrill and her posture demanding.

"She started it!" one of the boys whined, pointing at Yang. The woman glanced at Yang with stern eyes before looking at the four boys, the girl still cowering by the building, and Ruby standing off to one side.

"All of you come with me. Now."

Hanging their heads in shame, the four boys obediently followed the teacher while the rest of them fell into step behind them.

Even though the fight had been brief, Yang's heart hammered and her hands shook with adrenaline. A large part of her was relieved it was over, but she hadn't expected it to end by a teacher showing up…

"Don't worry - we won't get in trouble!" Ruby quipped from beside her while they walked towards their doom. "We were just doing the right thing!"

Smiling at Ruby, Yang reached down and held her sister's hand again.

It was always 'we' with Ruby. They were in this together, no matter what. If Yang got grounded, Ruby would ground herself too - then they'd sit in Yang's room coloring or drawing until Dad said they could watch TV again.

Trudging back into school, Yang glanced behind her at the other girl, who stared at the ground while shuffling along. She clutched one of her books in her hands while her backpack swung from her elbow, still unzipped. Turning around, Yang sighed as they were led into the office.

Unfortunately, she was a little too familiar with this room. Big chairs lined the walls like the waiting room in a dentist's office, but this was a lot worse than the dentist. At one end of the room was a door with a window that you couldn't see through - and that was the office you _really_ didn't want to get called into.

"Sit," the teacher ordered them before heading into the office and shutting the door behind her.

Under the receptionist's watchful gaze, each of them picked a side of the room and plopped into the seats to await their punishment. Yang and Ruby sat along one wall with the boys directly across from them - the big, bad bullies now sniffling and wiping away tears. The other girl sat as far away from them as possible, tears still in her eyes while she hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the floor.

Rubbing her knuckles, which were red and starting to puff up, Yang glanced at Ruby to make sure she wasn't hurt. But she was perfectly fine - actually, she was pretty content sitting in the giant chair, swinging her feet. She wasn't tall enough for her feet to touch the ground yet - kind of a shrimp for her age - but hopefully she'd grow soon.

A few minutes later, the teacher stormed out of the office.

"We're contacting your parents," she said, leveling each of them with another stern glare. "Wait here until they arrive."

Sighing again, Yang took off her backpack and dropped it on the floor in front of her, prepared for the wait. Helping Ruby remove her own backpack, Yang set her sister up with one of her coloring books and some crayons to keep her entertained while waiting for their dad.

Ruby had just started coloring a big green and purple toucan when the first of the boys' parents showed up.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you?" the woman demanded of her son. "Only to find out you're getting into fights?"

When the principal appeared just inside the doorway to his office, the woman turned away from the rapidly-shrinking boy and heaved a big sigh. Without another word, she walked into the office and closed the door behind her. Glancing at the boy, Yang found that he now refused to look up from his hands while the rest of his friends sat in silence beside him.

A few minutes later, the woman stormed back out. Grabbing her son by the arm, she ushered him out of the room with a quiet and stern, "When your father hears about this…"

Based on that response, this wasn't looking so good for Yang. Ruby better not get in trouble though, because she didn't do anything wrong! Yang was the one to pick a fight. She'd make sure to tell the principal that.

While Ruby colored - happy with her afternoon activity - the other boys' parents quickly arrived. Maybe they were already on their way to pick up their kids when they got the phone call from the school. Or maybe they lived really close. Either way, each of them spoke briefly to the principal before dragging their sons out with some variation of "What were you thinking?" or "Have I taught you nothing?" One of the moms even made her son apologize to all of them on the way out, which he did with a trembling lower lip before disappearing outside.

Funny how they weren't so tough anymore. If only they'd been like this when Yang asked them to give the girl her stuff back...then no one would've gotten in trouble.

"Dad!" Ruby suddenly cried out, kicking her feet in excitement.

Glancing over as their dad walked through the door, Yang straightened in her seat and did her best not to hold her breath. She wasn't _afraid_ , but she was pretty nervous about what he'd say to her this time. Last time he was pretty firm…

Finding the two of them, he hurried over and knelt on the ground in front of them.

"Are you ok?" he asked, looking Ruby over for any injuries before turning to Yang and doing the same. He gently touched her knuckles and the red finger marks on her wrist before looking up at her.

"What was it this time?" he whispered. When Yang turned towards the girl still sitting alone in the room with them, her dad followed her gaze. After looking confused for a second, he finally shook his head and sighed. "How many?"

"Four."

"Four?" he repeated in disbelief.

Yang didn't know what she was supposed to say to that. And it sucked waiting for a punishment. She knew that she was going to get in trouble - she wished he'd tell her _how much_ trouble already.

"When will you stop doing this?" he asked instead, his eyes pleading her to listen to him. "Were they even picking on Ruby?"

"No," she answered, feeling her brow furrow. "But that doesn't matter. They shouldn't be picking on anyone."

"We couldn't just walk away, Dad!" Ruby piped in. "We stand up for what's right, remember? Even when it's hard!"

After staring at Ruby for a long time, he patted their knees.

"You're both your mother's daughters," he commented as the principal stepped into the room.

"Mr. Xiao Long."

"Mr. Ozpin. I was hoping we wouldn't see each other again so soon," their dad replied, standing and walking towards the office. He didn't step through the doorway, however, without first turning back to Yang and Ruby. "I'll be right back."

Nodding, they stayed put in their seats.

As soon as the door closed, a man and woman rushed into the waiting area. From the matching dark hair, they had to be book girl's parents. The woman fretted over her daughter, kneeling down and checking every limb as if she might be injured. The girl kept saying she was ok, or that's what Yang guessed she was saying, but her mom continued to check.

"What happened?" she asked loudly.

The girl explained in such a quiet voice that Yang couldn't hear a single word that was said, but at one point the girl nodded towards Yang and Ruby and both adults immediately turned their way.

Caught staring, Yang immediately looked at Ruby's coloring book and tried to watch the interaction out of the corner of her eye. Once book girl's side of the story ended, her parents shared a look before striding across the room and knocking on the principal's door. The next second, they disappeared inside to join Mr. Ozpin and Yang's dad.

With all the parents accounted for, Yang took the opportunity to slide out of her seat and walk over to the girl, who was staring at the floor again. Waves of black hair fell over her shoulders, creating a pseudo-screen that kept the rest of the world out, but Yang wouldn't bother her for long.

"Hey, are you ok?" Yang whispered, and the girl finally looked up. Her amber eyes were rimmed in red from crying, but at least the tears were gone for now.

"Yes...thank you…" she replied with a soft sniff and rub at her nose. The sight pulled at Yang's heart - the same way it did whenever Ruby was teased.

"I'm sorry they were picking on you."

"Not the first time…" the girl directed to the floor, clutching her knees closer to her chest.

"But the last if I have anything to say about it!" Yang replied with a smile before looking at the book still clutched in the girl's hands. "Book girl, huh?"

Sniffing again, the girl wiped her nose with her sleeve and nodded regretfully, as if the name was something to be shamefully admitted to.

"That's super cool! Like a superhero name. She saves people with knowledge." When the girl looked up again, Yang smiled and tapped the top of the book. "Reading isn't nerdy, so don't stop, ok? You'll be a genius someday, and they'll still be idiots. Geniuses are _way_ cooler."

When the girl actually smiled at the words, Yang's grin widened.

"Yang."

But the sound of her name made her flinch. Looking over one shoulder, she found the principal gesturing her into his office while their parents re-entered the room. Before she left though, she gave book girl one more glance.

"Guess I gotta go now..." she said, smiling when she received a small smile of encouragement in return.

Taking a deep breath, she followed the principal into his office. Her dad gave her shoulder a soft squeeze when she walked past, but that was all the reassurance she got before Mr. Ozpin closed the door and gestured towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. She'd already tried both of them and neither seemed luckier than the other, so she picked the one on the right and plopped down. Mr. Ozpin sat across from her and put both elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together while watching her intently.

"Miss Xiao Long...can you tell me what happened?"

Their conversations always started like this - he always asked for her side of the story. Shouldn't he already know though? He was the principal, after all...

"They were picking on her," she answered anyway. "I asked them to stop and they wouldn't. So I punched the tall one in the nose."

Her response made him sigh.

"Can you explain what goes through your head when you see someone being picked on?"

The question made her brow crease in confusion. What went through her head?

"I...don't like it. And it's not the right thing to do," she answered unsurely. "So I want them to stop."

"Why don't you find a teacher?"

"Teachers scold them, but then they just do it again. Only worse because you told on them." She tried that before and then Ruby lost a week's worth of lunch money, so she already knew that didn't work. "Sometimes words don't work. They just need a punch to the nose."

Mr. Ozpin leaned forward in his seat, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Is that why we're not getting through to you?" he asked softly. "Because we're scolding you when what you really need is a punch to the nose?"

The response made her frown while thinking through her options.

"If I did something wrong, then yes."

"Fighting with your classmates isn't wrong?"

"If it keeps them from bullying again, no."

For several minutes, he just looked at her - like he was trying to read the thoughts going through her head. Before walking in here, she was positive her way of thinking was right, but under his gaze, she squirmed uncomfortably.

"They call her book girl," she finally said, her throat tightening as fear and sadness finally caught up to her. "They told her that reading was dumb. They threw her books on the ground!"

Book girl hadn't said or done anything to those boys either - Yang would bet on that. They just decided that she was an easy target because she was quiet. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? If she wanted to read, then let her read. Why did it matter to them?

Frowning, she looked back at Mr. Ozpin.

"If they keep teasing her, I'll keep fighting them," she said defiantly.

The reply didn't seem to surprise him, but he sighed anyway.

"Then it's a good thing she'll be transferring. One less child to worry about..." Standing up, he paced behind the desk for several long seconds before turning back to her.

"I understood when it was your sister, but are you determined to be a vigilante for everyone who gets picked on?"

Yang didn't understand what a 'vigilante' was but hesitantly nodded - and he nodded, too.

"That's what I thought. Then I'll give you a warning today, and I suggest you heed it - you only have a couple of years left in this school. I recommend you fulfill your mission using _words_ and only resort to fists when absolutely necessary. Am I making myself clear?"

Even though Yang wasn't sure she fully understood what he was trying to say, she nodded, feeling pretty grateful that she wasn't getting in serious trouble today.

"Very well. You may go."

Not wanting to risk staying any longer, she shot out of the seat and rushed into the waiting area without another word. Her dad and Ruby were the only ones still around - and apparently Ruby had convinced Dad to help her color the picture of the toucan while they waited.

"Can we go home now?" Yang asked, receiving a nod and small smile from her dad in return. While she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder – ready to go home and put this day behind her - her dad helped Ruby pack up her things before leading the way.

On their way out of the room, however, Yang noticed something sitting on the chair that book girl had been sitting in. Dashing over to check it out, she discovered that it was a book. Even though book girl was gone, the book was sitting on the chair by itself.

Grabbing it and running to catch up with her family, Yang flipped it open to see if there was a name inside so she could return it.

There wasn't a name, but there were some words written inside the front cover in - scrawled in a slightly-slanted font.

 _To Yang - thank you for standing up for me._

Grinning, Yang slipped the book into her backpack and followed her dad and sister to the parking lot for the short drive home.

"You're lucky, Yang," her dad scolded her while she got into the front seat and buckled her seatbelt. "That girl's parents threatened to complain to the school board if you were given any sort of punishment. Next time, you might not be so fortunate. Even worse, you could've been seriously hurt! What if one of those boys actually knew how to fight?"

Avoiding his eyes when he got into the vehicle beside her, Yang stared out of the window instead - which only made him sigh.

"We're getting you into boxing lessons…" he muttered while putting the car in drive.

"Can I have boxing lessons too, Dad?" Ruby immediately asked from the backseat.

"When you're a little older, Ruby…"

While they left school behind, Yang rubbed her knuckles and slumped into her seat, knowing that she was going to get a long talking-to when they got home.

Maybe she was supposed to feel like she did something wrong, but she didn't feel that way at all. She'd do it again tomorrow. And the next day.

But she still felt guilty. Not for the boys she fought with, but for book girl. Maybe she should've been book girl's friend before today. Maybe she shouldn't have waited for a moment like this before stepping in. How many times had she passed the girl in the hall and not said anything - too busy talking to her own friends to spare a minute to say 'hello?' Maybe that would've helped keep the bullies away.

She couldn't go back in time, but she could try to be better going forward…and if she had to hit some bully in the nose again, she would.


	2. Chapter 2

"Yang! Hurry up - we're gonna be late!"

Two quick knocks hit the bedroom door before footsteps tumbled downstairs without waiting for a response. Rolling her eyes at Ruby's antsiness, Yang tossed some random school supplies into a bag before slinging it over one shoulder and finally leaving her room behind.

"Yang!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back while walking downstairs to where Ruby was impatiently waiting. As usual, Yang played it cool in the face of Ruby's restlessness. "Jeez, what's the rush? School's not going anywhere."

"It's the first day!" Ruby huffed back at her. "I don't wanna be late!"

Rolling her eyes again, Yang rustled Ruby's mess of brunette hair and earned a loud grumble in reply. "But I thought you _liked_ running to school!" she teased.

After Ruby fixed her hair, she smiled - but it wasn't a sweet and innocent smile. No, it was a mischievous smile.

"Fine, good luck keeping up with me!"

From her grin, Ruby _knew_ she had Yang there. It had been years since she'd beaten Ruby in a race to the _mailbox_ \- no way she could keep up with Ruby all the way to school, even if it was only a few blocks away. Fair or not, Ruby could fly when she wanted to.

But the threat was hollow, so Yang laughed while walking to their pile of shoes and pulling out the pair she wanted to wear today. They walked to school together every day unless one of them was sick - that was the rule! And it was still the rule even if it meant that one of them (usually Yang) made both of them late.

While Ruby shuffled her feet and huffed again, Yang _slowly_ put on her shoes and - only when she felt she'd teased her sister long enough - stood up.

"Ok, think I'm ready," she said, ignoring Ruby's eye roll while opening the front door.

"Bye Dad!" Ruby called towards the dining room.

"Wait! Waitwaitwait just a second."

The two of them froze - one of Ruby's feet already stuck out the front door - and turned back to their dad when he appeared in the entryway.

"No one leaves this house without giving their old man a hug."

Yang playfully groaned at the request.

"But we're gonna be lateeee!" she whined, earning a punch in the shoulder from Ruby before they walked over and let their dad wrap them in a big, smashing hug. Holding them tightly, he kissed each of them on the forehead before letting go.

"Have a great first day."

"Thanks, Dad!"

"See ya later, old man," Yang teased before she and Ruby ran out of the house and jumped off the front porch like they'd been doing for years.

"Why're you always so slow?" Ruby complained when they reached the sidewalk.

"Why are you always so fast?" Yang retorted, taking long strides so they could make it to school on time.

"I only look fast because you're _so slow!_ " Ruby replied, breaking out that trademark smile when Yang laughed and wrapped her sister in a sideways hug.

They didn't live far from their high school - just a few blocks of neighborhood streets and a few restaurants sprinkled in between. They lived close enough that there was no point in driving, plus they liked walking to school together! It was something they'd done ever since they were little.

Of course, it sucked when it rained. Those were the days when walking to school seemed like the worst idea in the world.

But today there was no rain to be found. And, despite Ruby's pseudo-freakout, they had _plenty_ of time to make it to school. They just needed to walk fast.

When the towering building came into view, with its blacktop parking lot and grassy lawns already crawling with students, Yang sighed.

"I miss summer vacation already…"

"We haven't even gone inside yet!"

"Yeah but...classes and homework and learning...bleh." Her gripe made Ruby giggle while they jogged across a side street and onto school's main grounds.

"At least it's a short week, right?" Ruby pointed out. "Only three days, then we're done!"

"Right," Yang replied with a nod. "Which means we should skip this week and come back Monday."

"But if you don't go to school, you won't get to see your friends."

Ruby had a good point there. If all of Yang's friends were at school...and she wanted to spend time with those friends...then she needed to be at school too. Unless she convinced them to skip school _with_ her - that was a better solution! Or she could get new friends. Either/or.

"Plus, who'll beat up the bullies if you're home watching TV?" Ruby added, sending Yang a big grin.

Shaking her head and smiling, Yang nudged Ruby's shoulder while the two of them joined the crowd of kids heading up the front steps and into the building.

This was the start of Yang's last year - just one more year, and she was done! Done with school and off to...more school, most likely…

And thankfully, she hadn't fought any bullies in a long time. Years, at least. Well, there was that one time at the beginning of high school…but that was the last of it. Now, just the _threat_ of a fight was enough to make the bullies run.

At least she hadn't become one of the best boxers in the state for nothing...

"Maybe I'm retired," she said while climbing the front steps to the series of doors leading inside.

"You can't retire until you've scoped out the freshmen!"

Sighing in pretend exasperation, Yang stopped just inside the doors and looked around.

The entryway to their school was pretty big - a two-story tall open space that ran through the building, separating the classrooms from the gymnasiums, cafeteria, dance rooms, band rooms, etc., etc., etc. Basically, classrooms, library, and the office on the left - everything else on the right.

Contrary to what Ruby tried to make everyone believe this morning, they'd arrived with plenty of time to make it to homeroom before the bell. How did Yang know this? Because the entryway was brimming with students - their excited voices echoing off the walls and linoleum floor while that 'back to school' vibe filled the air.

"Isn't it about time I passed the torch to you?" Yang asked, turning away from the other high schoolers and meeting Ruby's eyes. "I won't be here next year, after all."

"Sure! But first, you've gotta teach me the ropes." Not missing a beat, Ruby bounced on her tiptoes and shot a few quick jabs Yang's way.

Laughing while she deflected Ruby's playful blows with the palm of one hand, Yang looked around the entryway and sighed for real this time. She had one full year left, which felt like forever but also like no time at all. Might as well make the best of it.

"Plans today?" she asked Ruby, following the crowd away from the front doors and deeper into the school - leaving freedom and midday naps behind.

"Big plans! I'm avoiding all homework and rejecting any attempt at teaching."

"That's my sister!" Yang replied with a laugh, raising one hand to give Ruby a high-five for recalling their yearly mantra. "I'll see you later then?"

"You bet. Bye Yang!" Ruby replied before racing towards her homeroom with a grin and a wave thrown over her shoulder.

Remaining in place, Yang watched several people wave to Ruby on her way through the halls - each person earning a beaming smile in return. Satisfied that Ruby was just fine, Yang finally turned towards her homeroom and set off.

Since she'd been here for the past three years, she was familiar with most of the other students in some way, shape, or form. She made it her mission to know everyone on _some_ level, that way she could have a conversation with them if needed - whether it was just a friendly chat or something a little...firmer.

Smiling to herself, she set off towards homeroom at a quick walk. Waving to a few classmates from last year, she already felt like she was back at home. Familiar building, familiar faces, familiar feeling of wanting to be here yet not wanting to be here at the same time.

"Yang!"

Pausing at the sound of her name, she turned and found none other than Nora Valkyrie running past, raising a hand that Yang slapped for a high-five. "We're practicing today, right?"

"Definitely. I'll see you after school!" Yang called out to the girl, who was already hustling away. When Nora stuck one thumb up in the air to signal her acceptance, Yang grinned again.

Ruby was right. School was pretty fun because there were a lot of fun people here. That didn't mean Yang wouldn't rather sit at home watching some good ol' daytime television, but...it wasn't so horrible here.

Heading up to the second floor, Yang waved to a few more people before noticing a younger girl staring at a piece of folded-up paper. Knowing that today was the first day of school, and knowing that there was an entire group of out-of-place and potentially lost students, Yang walked over and tapped the girl's shoulder.

"Hey!" she said after drawing the girl's eyes. "How's it going?"

"Uh, it's...going fine."

When the girl moved the paper out of view and shuffled her feet, Yang flashed a non-judgmental smile. Leaning a little closer, she lowered her voice and asked, "Can I help you find your class?"

Whether intended or not, the girl's expression filled with relief at the offer.

"I guess," she answered with a shrug, maintaining the 'cool-kid' freshman energy. "I mean, if you have time."

"I have plenty of time." When Yang gestured towards the class schedule, the girl willingly handed it over. After reading the entire thing and finding the homeroom, Yang handed it back with another smile. "You're pretty close! It's right down the hall. Come on; I'll show you."

Walking away, she nodded for the girl to follow.

"This one's hard to find because it's between halls," she explained while approaching a section of the building where the hallways intersected with each other. "I don't think they labeled it right, but once you know that, you'll never lose it again!"

Waving towards the door that matched the homeroom number, Yang leaned against the wall and grinned while the girl looked between her schedule and the label before smiling.

"Thank you…"

"Hey, no problem. Happy to help." Pushing away from the wall, Yang headed back the way they came, but not without sending the wayward student another smile. "Have a great first day!"

With a small wave, Yang walked away and breathed a small sigh of relief.

Today was exciting but, for one group of students, nerve-wracking. That same group was more vulnerable today than any other.

The freshmen. They were starting a new school, in a new building, with new teachers, and - in a lot of cases - with new classmates. Boil it all down, and it meant no friends or friendly faces to turn to for help when they couldn't find their misnumbered homeroom.

Yang couldn't help them all, but at least she got one of them to class on time!

"Good morning, Yang."

The familiar voice froze her in her tracks, and her smile grew while she turned around to find none other than Pyrrha Nikos walking up to her.

As usual, Pyrrha was the model of poise amongst the crowd of scatterbrained students.

Seriously - her posture was ridiculously good. It made the rest of them look like hunchbacks.

"Good morning, Pyrrha!" Yang replied. "Ready for class?"

"Yes, but are _you_ ready is the better question."

"Pretty sure I got everything this year!" While they turned and headed to class together, Yang gestured towards her backpack and smiled. "If you're that worried, you could've come over this morning and helped me pack."

The suggestion made Pyrrha laugh - a light, happy sound that chimed through the air like a piece of music. Both of them knew that Yang had delayed getting ready for school until the last possible second - that's how she showed up last year without anything to write with. Fortunately, borrowing pens was easy, but Pyrrha refused to let her live that one down.

"Like you'd accept my help…" Pyrrha teased while they squeezed past a group of juniors loitering in the middle of the hall. "Last time I tried to do that, you ended up _less_ prepared than you normally are."

Chuckling at the memory, Yang wrapped an arm around Pyrrha's shoulders and earned another smile as they walked to class. The two of them had homeroom together this year - and there was no better way to start the day than with one of her closest friends by her side.

As an added bonus, they lucked out and got assigned to Mr. Oobleck's homeroom – a science teacher who was just a _little_ eccentric. He was best known for creating a floor-eating acid during class that melted through the floor to the classroom below. The fire department got called, and everyone was sent home in case the stuff devoured the entire school. It was awesome...

"I'm surprised you made it on time," Pyrrha commented as they approached their classroom.

"No way Ruby let me be late," Yang replied with a shake of her head. "I don't know who taught that girl to enjoy school so much. Certainly wasn't me."

While Pyrrha laughed at the joke, the two of them walked into homeroom and glanced around. There was no sign of Mr. Oobleck, but several other students were already milling around claiming seats.

"Left side?" Pyrrha asked.

"You know it!"

Yang had a theory, which no one else seemed to believe, that sitting on the left side of the classroom meant less attention from the teacher. It had to do with every student's subliminal thoughts wanting to leave, which drew most of the teacher's attention towards the seats closer to the door. To her, it was genius. To others...not so much.

Genius or not, she sat on the left-hand side of the classroom whenever possible. Fortunately, there were still two open desks side-by-side in the back left - perfect for her and Pyrrha.

"I'm guessing you want the seat furthest away from the teacher?"

"You know me too well!" Yang said while dropping her bag on the desk in the back corner of the room, and Pyrrha claimed the one to her right. "Hopefully he doesn't assign seats. That'd be lame."

"Yangggg Xiao Long."

Turning towards another familiar voice, Yang smiled, folded her arms over her chest, and leaned against the desk while another classmate approached her.

"Can't believe I have the goddess herself in my homeroom," the boy said, flashing a charming grin while sauntering up to her. "Might I say you're looking particularly _ravishing_ today?"

"Give it up, Neptune," Yang replied, shaking her head and sharing an amused smile with Pyrrha. "It still ain't happening."

Huffing out a breath of air, Neptune smiled at her reply - his pearly whites practically glowing under the fluorescent lights. "Well, I said I'd try every year, didn't I? So my mission is complete...for now."

"Shouldn't that mean you're done for good?" Yang asked, raising a brow. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on repeating this year."

" _Technically,_ January starts a new year. I have one more shot at convincing you that we -" Stepping closer, Neptune gestured between them and lowered his voice to what he must consider to be a sultry whisper. "Are _destined_ to be together."

Rolling her eyes, Yang playfully pushed Neptune's shoulder away while he grinned like a fool.

"Great. Can't wait," she replied with a light scoff.

"Until then," he finished with a theatrical bow. After nearly touching his nose to her desk, he walked back to one of his buddies and sat on top of a desk - all without so much as a dent in his smile.

This was turning out to be quite the beginning to senior year. Sharing the same homeroom with Pyrrha _and_ Neptune. If Yang had to guess, this morning's overtures were just the tip of the iceberg on his never-ending quest to get her to agree to a date.

"Ever give him a chance?" Pyrrha whispered while pulling a notebook from her bag.

"Never," Yang answered, shaking her head at Neptune's antics. He was a great guy and completely harmless, but...that was basically it. There was no excitement there - just cheesy lines and even cheesier jokes.

Unzipping her bag and pulling out an unused notebook from last year, she dropped it on her desk and scanned the room to see who else was trapped in this small cube with her for the next fifteen minutes. Lots of familiar faces and -

Unexpectedly, her eyes locked onto someone unfamiliar sitting in the midst of the people she'd gone to school with for the past few years.

"Hey, who's that?" she asked, lowering her voice and nudging Pyrrha's elbow. Yang then nodded towards the front of the classroom, where the unknown student sat in the first row near the door.

With long waves of jet black hair, the girl didn't seem to notice much else happening around her. Which made sense seeing as how she currently had her nose stuck in a book.

"Must be new," Pyrrha replied with a shrug, clearly not thinking it was as big of a deal as Yang did.

But it _was_ a big deal to get new students! So Yang tossed her bag on the floor by her desk and beckoned Pyrrha to follow her to the front of the class. After weaving through the rows of desks, she waved one hand to draw the girl's attention away from the book.

"Hey, don't think I've seen you around here before." Reaching out to shake the girl's hand, Yang smiled. "I'm Yang."

Calmly sticking a bookmark between the pages and letting the book fall shut, the girl smiled warmly.

"I know who you are," she replied while shaking Yang's hand. "I'm Blake."

"Your reputation precedes you," Pyrrha joked, patting Yang's shoulder and smiling at Blake. "Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you, Blake. Welcome to Vale High."

"And don't believe everything you hear about me!" Yang added, tearing her eyes away from the new girl for about a half second before she felt compelled to look back. "Unless you've heard good things. You can believe all the good things cuz those are totally true."

When Blake laughed at the joke, her amber eyes laughed right along with her - sparkling with more amusement than the comment seemed to deserve. The sight filled Yang's chest with the unexpected feeling of warmth and butterflies, and made her grin like a pretty big idiot.

"Well…" Blake replied, allowing the word trail off while Yang clung to it. "They say you flirt like a prince. Is that true?"

Yang burst out laughing at the unexpected response.

"A prince?" she asked. "What does that even mean?"

Clearly trying to suppress a smile, Blake shrugged and said, "I was hoping you could show me."

"A prince?" Yang repeated, turning to Pyrrha and receiving a shrug but no help. Grinning, Yang turned back to Blake and decided to give it a go anyway. Because why not? She could totally flirt like a prince if she wanted to.

"Excuse me, my fair princess," she directed towards Blake, lowering her voice slightly and struggling not to smile while she held out one hand with the palm facing up. "If you would be so kind as to offer me your hand…" When her concentration broke, she smiled and felt a laugh bubbling up while Blake dutifully placed one hand on top of Yang's palm. Gently lifting Blake's hand, Yang dipped her head to place a quick kiss to the back of it, barely brushing her lips against soft skin while her cheeks instantly caught fire. But she was too far down the rabbit hole to back out now.

Raising her gaze, she found amber eyes dancing with delight at what she just did.

"A fairer hand I hath never seen," she whispered - a feeble attempt to convey 'you have soft skin' as a prince might do.

Giving up because she _royally_ sucked at this, and also because it was embarrassing as heck, she laughed along with Pyrrha and Blake, even though that fluttering feeling was still in her chest.

"They don't really say that about me, do they?" Yang asked when their laughter subsided. Still smiling, Blake shook her head.

"Actually, no. They don't. But they say you're willing to try anything - I wanted to see if that was true."

When Blake gave Yang a satisfied smile, her jaw fell open in shock.

Did that mean...was she just duped into doing that?

"Looks like you've met your match," Pyrrha laughed while Yang stared at the new girl in shock. Blake just looked back with a small, pleased smile - as if she couldn't wait to hear what Yang said next.

Grinning at the happy turn of events, Yang had just opened her mouth to respond when Mr. Oobleck stumbled through the door carrying a haphazard stack of papers in his arms.

"Good morning, students!" he shouted at them before unceremoniously dumping the pile on his desk. After briefly sorting through them, he gave up and wrote his name across the board.

Taking that as their cue that class was about to begin, Pyrrha nudged Yang's shoulder so they could make their way back to their seats. The last thing Yang wanted to do was walk away right now. She'd much rather stay and continue what had turned out to be an enjoyable conversation, but with the teacher here...

"I'll be keeping an eye on you," she joked, playfully narrowing her eyes and pointing two fingers towards Blake.

"I hope you do," Blake replied with that same pleased smile set in place.

Another bubble of surprise appeared in Yang's chest at the unexpected answer. But, after giving Blake one last curious grin, Yang followed Pyrrha to the seats they'd chosen earlier.

"Wow, she's pretty," she whispered to Pyrrha while they sat down. Pyrrha's response was to laugh that musical laugh of hers before quieting down when Mr. Oobleck began speaking.

"Alright students listen up," Mr. Oobleck shot at them in his rapid-fire voice. "Welcome to the first day of school. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the year." Looking at his desk and shuffling the disorganized papers in all directions, he grabbed one and held it up.

"It looks like we have a new student joining us from...Menagerie. Miss Belladonna - where are you?"

Yang's eyes immediately returned to Blake when she calmly raised her hand in response to his question. When Mr. Oobleck found her, he spared a quick nod in her direction.

"Ah, there you are! Welcome!"

While Mr. Oobleck moved on to locker assignments, Yang watched Blake instead of listening to what he had to say. From her seat on the left side of the class, she could only see Blake's side, but that was more than enough.

'Pretty' was one word that could describe her new classmate. Beautiful, witty, funny…wow, they lucked out with the transfer students this year. Who knew that Menagerie was hoarding such a gem for themselves? Maybe Yang should've transferred there...

Flinching when something bounced off the side of her head, Yang looked down and found a small ball of paper lying on top of her desk. Turning to her right in confusion, she found Pyrrha giving her a pointed look.

'You're staring,' Pyrrha mouthed before nodding towards the front row of seats - where Blake was sitting.

'No I'm not,' Yang mouthed back with attitude before flicking the paper at her friend and turning forward. But as soon as she was facing the front of the class, her eyes drifted towards the right side of the room once again.

Ok, maybe she was staring just a little bit. It wasn't entirely her fault though! They didn't get transfer students very often, so anyone new was worthy of an extra amount of interest. And Blake already proved herself worthy of an extra, _extra_ amount of interest.

Last year, they got maybe three transfer students total. The year before that, none. It was far more common for students to leave than new ones to come in. That probably had something to do with Vale High's rigorous academics. It was a pretty prestigious school, typically only admitting those with excellent academic records, wealthy families, or other scholastic achievements.

It had been unexpected for someone like Yang to get in, what with her history of...well, she liked to call it 'standing up for the little guy.' Other people liked to call it 'fighting' or straight up 'brawling,' but she hadn't done anything like that in a long time. And she never hit anyone who hadn't deserved it!

Besides her checkered disciplinary history, her grades were solid to average. But it wasn't grades that got her and Ruby in. Ever since they were little, they'd excelled in sports - Yang in boxing and Ruby in track and field. Seeing as how the athletic teams at Vale High competed at a high level, their acceptance a little less surprising.

Plus, Yang _nailed_ the entrance interview. The teacher in charge of her evaluation liked her so much, he didn't ask a single question about the written warnings she'd received in the past. Instead, they spent the entire time talking about various professional boxers and hypothesizing who could beat who in different types of fights.

Once Yang was accepted, there hadn't been much discussion about whether or not she would go. It was a great school with top-notch academics and a good reputation. Dad was thrilled, and even more so when Ruby was recruited in the midst of middle school.

 _That_ was a pretty busy time in their lives. They switched schools _and_ moved so they'd be closer - into a bigger house, too. Yang remembered being nervous, but everything turned out alright, even though the schoolwork could be tough. Tough as in there was an entire level of classes she wouldn't sign up for unless she _wanted_ to spend the rest of her life studying. In which case, Vale High was the best place she could be!

A loud bell jolted her from her thoughts and back to the classroom. Looking around while everyone gathered their belongings and rushed towards their next class, Yang began to do the same. The notebook lying on top of her desk was still empty as she flipped it closed and stuffed it back into her bag - guess she'd try to take notes tomorrow.

"Did I miss anything important?" she asked Pyrrha as they stood up.

"Besides _all_ of homeroom? Nope," Pyrrha responded with a shake of her head. "I don't know how you can tune everything out like that."

"Years of practice, Pyrrha. Years of practice."

When the two of them reached the hall, Yang stopped and sighed. They had separate class schedules for most of the day so would head in different directions now.

"So I guess I'll see you…"

Yang trailed off when she spotted Blake walking through the crowds away from them. Somehow, it was impossibly easy to pick the new girl out from the groups of students surrounding her. It was the way she walked or...something.

"Look at you!" Pyrrha said, playfully shoving Yang's shoulder. "You're practically drooling!"

"Am not!" Yang denied, wiping the back of one hand across her mouth just in case.

"Admit it - she tricked you, and now you're hooked," Pyrrha teased, smiling when Yang's brow furrowed.

Her first instinct was to deny, but...that's exactly what happened, wasn't it? Introducing herself to a new student was supposed to be about as vanilla as it could get. They'd be all out of sorts being in a new building surrounded by new people, and Yang could swoop in and offer a friendly face to get them through the day.

At least, that's how it usually went. Blake just threw that entire idea on its head by flipping the tables and playing a joke on Yang instead. And now Yang was staring after Blake in the halls - unable to tear her eyes away.

But there was something about Blake's energy that Yang was incredibly attracted to - and they'd only spoken for a few minutes.

"I'll see you at lunch?" she asked Pyrrha instead, ignoring the grin and heading towards her next class with a wave.

Leaving Pyrrha behind, Yang was free to scan the hallway while she walked - smiling at people she knew or recognized and throwing in some waves or high fives when appropriate. Making eye contact was important - she made a lot of eye contact to let people know that she saw them.

It might look like she was searching for the people she knew but, in reality, she was looking for the opposite - anyone who looked like they might need a morale boost or show of support. They were usually easy to pick out - a lot of the time, they trained their eyes on the floor or hugged their books to their chest like a shield. They wouldn't make eye contact with anyone else in the hall and walked quickly, like their next classroom was a safe zone and the hallway was covered in lava.

It was a stark contrast to her least favorite people - the loud and boisterous ones. Their laughs cut through the din of voices, and their jeers added an unfavorable undertone to what could be a happy place.

Ruby told Yang once that if she were a mean person, she'd be a good bully because of how easily she found the people most susceptible to it. And by 'good bully,' Ruby most likely meant incredibly effective at ruining people's days.

Yang didn't know exactly how it worked, but it felt like she had some sort of radar to pick out both the bullies and the bullied. By now, she'd done it for so long that it didn't take any extra effort on her part - her senses just passively searched for people who might be in need of a little friendship during the day. In her experience, she found that one of the easiest ways to combat a bully was by befriending the people they went after. Everyone wanted an easy target - it wasn't as easy if someone else was paying attention.

And, for better or worse, people seemed to pay attention to Yang. She'd always been a pretty popular person, so other people usually wanted her to like them. If she was nice to someone, other people seemed more likely to be nice to them too. Or at least, they might strike up a conversation on their own.

Spotting a small girl with mousy hair and glasses directed to the floor, Yang flounced over and fell into step beside her.

"Hey there!" she called out. The girl actually stopped walking at Yang's sudden presence, turning and staring up at her in surprise. "I'm Yang," she continued undaunted, sticking one hand out for the girl to shake. "Are you a first year?"

Her guess was based on the girl's size and how young the features of her face were. And she was apparently right based on the miniscule nod she received in return.

"Yes."

"Well, welcome to Vale High!" Yang said before gesturing in the direction the girl had already been walking. "Is your class this way?"

A single nod was her only response this time.

"Cool! Then we're heading the same way." When Yang started walking, she tried to make it obvious that the girl should follow, which she hesitantly did. Seeing a friend from her math class last year, Yang smiled and held up a hand when they passed him.

"So what's your name?" she asked, understanding that their entire walk would be silent if she didn't strike up a conversation.

"Violet."

"That's a pretty name." Smiling at the young girl walking by her side, Yang gestured towards her eyes. "Obviously, I'm partial to the color."

"It's my grandmother's name."

"So it's got some history attached to it! What class are you headed to?"

"Calculus."

This time, it was Yang's turn to do a double take.

"Calculus? In your first year?"

"They let me test into it..."

"Holy crap…" Yang muttered before smiling at Violet. "Well, that's…"

Yang's train of thought trailed off when she spotted Blake standing in the hallway up ahead of them, reaching into one of the lockers and pulling out a heavy book.

"Awesome," Yang finished in a half sigh, grinning when Blake glanced over and saw them.

"You know, I haven't taken calc yet and I'm in my last year!" Yang added, trying her best to walk nonchalantly past Blake. Feeling amber eyes on her, she turned at the last second and caught another small smile that instantly made her grin. After waving, she forced herself to look away - again, reminding herself to walk normally.

But damn if there wasn't something about that girl…

"Vale High needs smart students like you!" Yang concluded, stopping outside the classroom she knew held the calculus class and turning towards Violet. "You're the reason everyone thinks so highly of us. So keep it up, yeah?"

When Violet smiled, the happy emotion made it all the way to her eyes. It was that smile that made Yang grin and turn to leave - her between-classes mission a success.

"It was nice to meet you!" she called back with a friendly wave. When she threw a glance over one shoulder, she found Violet smiling at her but - beyond that - Blake's eyes still tracking her away.

While her heart rate sped up from the look, Yang turned and walked to her next class in a happy daze.

The day wasn't even an hour old, and she'd already met a certifiable math whiz and a girl who challenged the definition of what it meant to make someone feel butterflies.

Today was a lot more exciting than she'd expected it to be.


	3. Chapter 3

What began as an exciting morning quickly devolved into a typical first day of school. There were new classes, new teachers, and the not-so-new attempt to teach on the first day. Why did teachers insist on using _every single second_ of class to teach something? Didn't they realize that almost every student was still stuck in vacation mode, which meant that their brains were about as spongy as rocks?

Apparently, Yang's teachers had more faith in her brain than she did, because she wasn't at _all_ ready to learn anything today. The information literally bounced off of her instead of sinking in. Sure, she scribbled a few notes when something looked important and collected enough handouts to last an entire year, but she was operating on autopilot by the time lunch rolled around.

Thankfully, some politician or parent or _someone_ decided that kids needed to eat during the day. Otherwise, Yang was pretty sure her teachers would _just keep teaching_. Or, because they were pretty clever, they'd create some sort of lunch/learning hybrid period.

Since that hadn't happened (yet), Yang mentally checked out while following a steady stream of students towards the cafeteria. She felt like an extra in a zombie movie, shuffling along with the rest of the ravenous horde. Once she made it to the lunchroom though - which was alive with laughter and happy energy - she sighed in relief.

Finally. For the next blissful thirty minutes, there would be no mention of homework, projects, or final exams. There would be no class syllabus, required reading, or 'problem sets.' Nope. No more of that. Instead, Yang would find some friends and eat crappy cafeteria food while talking about things that actually mattered, like the most recent episode of their favorite TV shows or something.

Grabbing a tray and joining the line to get food, she glanced at the boy standing in front of her and shook her head.

"Thought the first day would be easy, right?" she asked, getting him to nod while sliding his tray along in front of hers. "Who knew they had so much to teach us!"

"I have homework in all of my classes so far," he lamented.

"No way - all of them?"

When he nodded, she let out a low whistle.

"Sorry to hear that..."

"Complaining about schoolwork already?" one of the lunch ladies asked while piling macaroni onto their plates.

"You know it!" Yang answered with a grin. "We can't come back to school and have _nothing_ to complain about."

Chuckling at the (true) statement, the woman motioned Yang along the line to pay at one of the registers.

"Telling jokes already, Yang?" the woman in charge of the register asked while Yang typed in her student number.

"Pretty sure I never stopped!"

Earning another laugh - and an amused expression from the girl standing behind her - Yang picked up her tray and stepped away from the line. As soon as she left the hustle and bustle of the food area behind, she spotted a younger boy standing at the periphery of the sea of tables - a tray in his hands while he scanned the partially-filled room in front of him.

To everyone else, he probably looked like a regular kid standing in the lunchroom. But from the way he shifted his feet and looked incredibly uncomfortable, _Yang_ felt uncomfortable just watching him. She understood where that feeling came from though - lunch was both the best _and_ the worst part of the day. At least, it was when you didn't know who to sit with. Eating alone was always an option, but doing that was similar to eating with a spotlight trained right on you.

Except no one ate alone or looked lost at Vale High - not if Yang had anything to say about it. If she noticed someone eating alone, she had no problem inviting them to sit with her and her friends. Because nothing was worse than eating lunch alone when it seemed like everyone else had someone to sit with.

Walking over to the boy, Yang caught his attention with a smile and quick, "Hey, how's it going?"

Although he seemed momentarily surprised that she spoke to him, he quickly looked towards the cafeteria again.

"Good, I guess."

"Good is good enough," she joked. "I'm Yang, by the way." Normally she'd shake his hand or something, but they were both holding trays of food at the moment, so she nodded instead.

"David," he replied with a timid smile. And, just like that, he relaxed a bit - mostly because he was focused on Yang instead of how uncomfortable he felt in a room full of strangers.

"Nice to meet you! So...you looking for someplace to sit?"

"Oh, um, not really?" When Yang arched a brow at the uncertain answer, he carried on. "I mean, my friends should be here soon."

The answer was a relief for Yang to hear, and she relaxed into another smile.

"Ah, they're late?" she asked, receiving a nod in response. "The teachers love to make us late, don't they? But they hate it when we're not in our seats on time."

Giving Yang a real smile, he was about to reply when a group of late arrivals hurried into the lunchroom and joined the back of the line. Included in that group were two boys, both of whom waved in their direction before grabbing trays.

"That must be them," Yang concluded, noticing how her young friend relaxed knowing that company would soon arrive.

"Yup." With a sideways glance, he spared her a quick smile. "Thanks for waiting with me."

And, just like that, Yang felt like a million and a half bucks.

"No problem!" she said with one last nod and smile before leaving her new friend behind.

She wouldn't have anyone new to sit with today, but that was a good problem to have. Now she just needed to find that red-headed girl she called her friend. Fortunately, finding Pyrrha amongst a sea of students was as easy as spotting a fire hydrant in the desert. Her hair was flaming red, after all.

Sauntering over, Yang set her tray on the table with a soft _clack_ announcing her arrival.

"What's up, Pyrrha?" she asked while sitting across from her friend.

"Not much has changed since this morning," Pyrrha replied before taking a bite of her macaroni. "Did you make a new friend?"

When Pyrrha nodded over Yang's left shoulder, Yang spun around and saw David and his friends claiming a few seats on the other side of the room. Unsurprisingly, he looked really talkative now that he was together with his buddies. Either way, Yang was happy that he didn't look lost anymore.

"Yup!" she answered, spinning back to Pyrrha and smiling. "Although I don't know if he'd call _me_ his friend…"

"I'm sure he would. You're very friendly."

"'Friendly' and 'friends' are different things, Pyrrha." Picking up her fork, Yang narrowed her eyes when Pyrrha merely shrugged at the differentiation. "Which one do you consider us to be?"

Catching Yang's gaze across the table, Pyrrha tried (and failed miserably) not to smile.

"You're friendly," she repeated, ducking to the side when Yang threw a plastic spoon at her. "And I'm _lucky_ to call you my friend," Pyrrha added with a bright smile.

Even though Yang wanted to pretend she was sullen at the response, she couldn't - not when Pyrrha used that bewitching smile against her!

"I'm lucky to be your friend too..." Yang grumbled before shaking her head. "But before we get sap all over the place - how have your classes been?"

" _You_ want to talk about school?" Pyrrha asked with a small laugh. "Classes were ok, although I received quite a bit of homework already…"

"I know! It's so lame…" Yang bemoaned, taking a haphazard bite to eat while scanning the cafeteria, which steadily filled with students as the line emptied out. Everyone seemed happily-accompanied today, so she ended her incessant scanning and waved to the two girls walking towards them.

"Yang!" Ruby called out, speeding over and grabbing the seat beside her. Yang wrapped Ruby in a one-armed, sideways hug before turning to their fourth companion, who was setting her tray down and just about to take her seat.

"What's up, Weiss? Long time no see!"

"I assume you're kidding," Weiss responded dryly while sitting across from Ruby. "We saw each other a few days ago."

Shaking her head at the girl's continued lack of a sense of humor, Yang decided that a few teases were in order.

"Oh, was that you?" she asked, pretending to be genuinely surprised by the knowledge. "I thought Ruby made a new friend! She does that, ya know. She's super friendly!"

Unamused, Weiss made a face at Yang before refocusing on Ruby, probably content to ignore Yang's existence for the rest of lunch.

With long, perfectly-styled white hair and impeccable (i.e., expensive) clothes, Weiss looked the part of the richest girl in the school. She acted the part, too. While not exactly 'spoiled,' she was demanding, hyper-competitive, and expected everything to go her way. And if people didn't like how she acted...well, she really didn't care - and she would say that right to your face.

The only person whose opinion seemed to matter to Weiss was Ruby's, which was weird because Ruby wasn't rich. She didn't care how she dressed, she wasn't at the top of her class, she didn't study for a living, and she ate like someone who was half-human, half-vacuum cleaner.

They were Vale High's most unlikely friends. Polar opposites. Yet they ate lunch together and hung out over summer vacation? Yang was just _waiting_ for the day Ruby realized that Weiss was kind of a snob, but...that might not happen anytime soon.

Picking up the chocolate chip cookie that came with their pre-planned meal, Weiss reached across the table and dropped it onto Ruby's tray, bringing Ruby's total to three.

"Thanks, Weiss!" Ruby remarked, her eyes sparkling with delight while she bit into the cookie before eating anything else.

When Ruby made a happy sound, Yang realized that she might be waiting a _very long time_ before their strange, improbable friendship failed. Because, as unlikely as it seemed, Weiss was different with Ruby. She was kind, thoughtful, and almost...sweet.

As long as she was nice to Ruby, Yang had no complaints. Well, _almost_ no complaints...

"You know what they say, Ruby," Yang said, spearing a forkful of macaroni and pointing it towards Ruby's stack of cookies. "Dessert before dinner, never been thinner!"

Giggling at the rhyme, Ruby shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth as one huge bite.

"I think it might be impossible for Ruby to gain weight," Pyrrha commented from the other side of the table. "She runs too much for that."

"I agree with Pyrrha!"

Laughing at Ruby's reply, Yang knew that Pyrrha was probably right - Ruby expended _way_ too much energy to ever have a problem with eating cookies. In fact, the doctor usually recommended that she eat _more_ , not less. Something about growing and her bones and metabolism...Yang didn't remember the exact reason. She just remembered being super jealous that Ruby got to eat whatever she wanted all the time.

While Ruby set in on her second cookie, Yang stuck a bite of macaroni in her mouth and made a face.

"Glad they're still committed to feeding us dull food…" she mumbled. After pushing the macaroni around her plate, she took another bite anyway.

"You can always bring your lunch."

"Thank you, Pyrrha, but that would require waking up earlier. And we all know that's not gonna happen."

When Ruby giggled at the true statement, Yang smiled and took another bite of her lunch.

The food wasn't _that_ bad, but cafeteria food was something she _had_ to complain about. Like homework or airport security or...something else that everyone complained about. At least it was enough nourishment to get her through the day, which was good because she had boxing practice right after school. Boxing on an empty stomach was _not_ fun.

With lunch in full swing, the four of them ate for several moments in relative silence - as much silence as there could be in a cafeteria full of talking students. It was a nice ambiance, with everyone talking excitedly at once, relieved to be away from teachers for a little bit or excited to see friends after the long break.

"Have you met the new girl?" Weiss asked to break the silence, still picking at her tray of food. "From Menagerie?"

Normally, Yang discounted or ignored everything Weiss said, but _that_ question got her full attention in a hurry.

"You mean Blake?" she asked, ignoring the knowing smirk she received from Pyrrha. "You met her too?"

"She's been in all of my classes so far," Weiss answered, her annoyed tone suggesting that the scheduling miracle somehow _wasn't_ an amazing thing. "I can't believe they let her transfer her credits over..." she huffed, flipping her hair in indignation.

For a second, Yang had no idea what Weiss meant. Eventually, her mind grasped that Weiss was talking about the credits they earned each semester from classes, but she still didn't understand why it was a big deal.

"Uh...what does that have to do with anything?" she ventured to ask, which earned her a heavy sigh.

"They let her transfer her _grades_ , Yang," Weiss explained, her tone suggesting that she was speaking to a child. "And they're using her grades to give her a _ranking_ in our class - which happens to be the same as mine..."

From Weiss' attitude, Yang knew that she should be affronted by this travesty. This was, after all, _yet another_ example of the school acting against their best interests, allowing intruders into their midst and assigning those intruders a number based on test scores!

That was way too difficult to be upset over. Instead, Yang was just really impressed.

"Wow, she's that smart?"

Weiss sighed again, but it was hard to tell whether she was annoyed by Yang's questions or disgruntled by the situation as a whole.

"She got perfect grades the first three years of school, so yes. She's either smart, or Menagerie's curriculum is worse than I expected. Considering her opinions on you, I'm inclined to believe the latter."

The offhand putdown made Yang share a quick, confused glance with Pyrrha.

"What do you mean by her 'opinions' of Yang?" Pyrrha asked, saving Yang from having to ask herself.

"She's strangely fond of you," Weiss replied, looking at Yang as if trying to figure out why that might be.

"Really?"

Even though Weiss made it sound vaguely insulting, Yang was ecstatic to hear the news. _Far_ happier than she should be, but…

Who was she kidding? She loved it when she made a good impression on people she just met. And the prettier the strangers were, the better!

"Yes," Weiss replied with a roll of her eyes. "People were talking about you - because that's all they ever seem to do - and someone mentioned that you're actually a hopeless fool, but she stood up for you."

While the comment seemed innocent, Yang leveled Weiss with a glare.

"Were _you_ the one calling me a hopeless fool?"

"We'll never know who it was," Weiss retorted with a wave of one hand. "But she said that the world needed more people like you. Of course, I wholeheartedly disagreed. One of you is more than enough."

"Two Yangs would be cool though! Then I'd have two sisters!"

Ruby's giddy remark drew Weiss' attention (and consternation), during which time Yang shot a big grin Pyrrha's way.

Did Blake really think that she was nice? If so, that was awesome. Like _really_ awesome.

"She must be pretty cool then," Yang surmised, unable to lose her grin. "I mean, anyone who thinks I'm nice is cool in my book."

"In mine too!" Ruby immediately piped in.

Raising her hand, Yang gave Ruby a high five. But while the rest of them were various levels of happy about Vale High's newest student, Weiss looked like she'd found a slice of lemon hidden in her lunch.

Seriously, she looked more than a little disgruntled by the sudden change in class pecking order.

"Come on, Weiss. Don't look so upset. Who doesn't like a good competition?" Yang teased, earning a scoff for her efforts.

"It's not a competition," Weiss snapped before pursing her lips. "It's just...a very close matchup."

Chuckling at Weiss' hardly-concealed competitiveness, Yang scanned the lunch tables in hopes of spotting the girl they were talking about. But...no luck.

"I wonder where she is..." she muttered mostly to herself, swiveling all the way around in her seat to check the tables behind them.

"I saw her in the library when I left," Weiss replied before dropping her fork on her tray with a clatter. "Wait...was she in the library studying? On the first day of school? I can't let her get ahead of me like that!"

Without another word, Weiss abruptly stood from the table - her chair scraping across the cafeteria floor in her haste - before grabbing her bag and rushing out of the room.

"Wait - Weiss!" Ruby called after the girl, who merely waved over her shoulder while disappearing into the hallway. With their table of four suddenly down to three, Ruby leaned back in her seat and pouted. "But I like eating lunch with Weiss..."

"Looks like you'll be eating in the library then," Yang joked, lightly elbowing Ruby in the side to get her to smile again. It worked - Ruby's eyes lit up with an idea.

"She'll probably let me sit with her, right?" Ruby asked, gathering her belongings before hearing a response.

"Uh...maybe?" After sharing an amused glance with Pyrrha, Yang watched Ruby grab her backpack and sling it over her shoulders. "You're really going to eat in the library?"

"Yup!" Picking up her tray, Ruby dutifully pushed in her chair before giving Yang and Pyrrha a big grin. "See you after school!"

And with that, Ruby faithfully chased Weiss out of the cafeteria. Her determination to spend a few more minutes together - even though Weiss would be furiously studying - was weird and quirky, but that was Ruby in a nutshell.

Chuckling at another bizarre episode involving the dynamic duo, Yang turned towards her sole remaining lunchmate.

"What about you, Pyrrha?" she asked, waving her fork towards the hall. "Have studying to do during lunch?"

"None that I've planned, but I'll be training a few days each week now that track season is starting."

"Again?" Yang asked in surprise. "You said that was just a one-year thing!"

"I decided it would be beneficial to continue that routine this year," Pyrrha replied with one of her A+ smiles. "We can never practice too much, after all."

While the news was disappointing, it wasn't surprising that Pyrrha would put in extra work and be happy about it. She was an extreme workaholic who somehow never seemed upset by how hard or often she trained. If _Yang_ put that much effort into something...well, she'd better be the best in the entire world, or she'd quit!

Fortunately that mentality didn't follow her to boxing, because Vale High's boxing program was fledgling at best. That's kind of why they recruited her - to help get things rolling with some marquee wins and drum up more interest in the sport.

Their track and field team, however, was good. Very, very good. Like state champions for all of history good. The current team was basically unbeatable, and they hadn't lost a meet in years. It helped that Ruby was one of the best sprinters in the world, basically, but a juggernaut wasn't built without having extremely dedicated athletes, like Pyrrha, who fit in workouts during lunch and still had the energy for a full practice after school.

Compared to the track team, the boxing club was amateur level. Though they were pretty successful in their own right! It was still a work in progress, but they had a good training regimen to bring new members up to speed quickly. Yang's years of experience prior to Vale High had helped her jump the learning curve and start mentoring others right away. But even if they were _pretty_ good, they didn't have the history of dominance like the track and field team did. All in good time though!

"How come Ruby never works out during lunch?" she asked while finishing the remainder of her food.

"Ruby is naturally gifted," Pyrrha replied with an honest smile. "We aren't all as fortunate."

"Oh please. I've seen you throw a javelin over the school with your left hand. You can't possibly be saying that _you're_ not gifted." Squinting at Pyrrha like she could read her friend's mind, Yang gasped when she noticed a soft shade of pink on Pyrrha's cheeks.

"It's Jaune, isn't it?!" she shouted in disbelief. Pyrrha immediately dove across the table to cover Yang's mouth, and only let go when Yang stopped yelling muffled phrases like 'oh my god!' and 'why didn't you tell me?'

"I'm helping him with his form," Pyrrha explained after releasing Yang, her cheeks flushing darker at the admission.

"Uh huh...his 'form,'" Yang replied with air quotes and a smirk. "What kind of form might that be, Pyrrha?"

"He needs help getting off the block quicker."

Bursting into laughter, Yang waved both hands in front of her.

"Ok, ok, I don't need the details!" she teased. "I just hope you have more luck with him than you did last year. And not just on the track, if you know what I mean."

When Yang threw in a wink for good measure, Pyrrha's cheeks grew redder.

"Hey, but you're the javelin thrower," Yang continued when another thought occurred to her. "Wouldn't it make more sense for one of the sprinters to help him with running form? Someone like, oh I dunno, Ruby?"

Yang grinned while waiting for Pyrrha's answer, which accompanied an even deeper shade of red.

"Ruby is obviously busy at lunch," Pyrrha responded with a nonchalant wave of one hand. "Plus, I'm capable of participating in any of the track events - they just aren't my specialty."

Chuckling at the diplomatic answer, Yang decided to give Pyrrha a break for now. Her answer was right though - she was all-around talented at most of the events, but javelin was where she shone the brightest. Combined with her natural abilities and otherworldly patience, she was a great teacher.

And Pyrrha was probably the _only_ person with a shot of helping Jaune improve. Unless something had drastically changed since Yang watched him last, he was hardly capable of standing on his own two feet let alone running any type of timed race. However, even though he wasn't super talented, he spent the last three years as team manager in hopes of one day improving enough to compete. With Pyrrha's help, who knew, maybe he'd actually get there.

But seriously, this massive crush had been growing ever since their freshman year, and _nothing_ had come of it. If something didn't happen soon, Yang might need to intervene on Pyrrha's behalf. With Pyrrha's permission, of course.

Glancing at the clock above one of the cafeteria's exits, Yang sighed when she saw that lunch was nearly over. Catching the look, Pyrrha smiled and asked, "Shall we go?"

Yang wanted to say 'no.' She wanted to suggest that they stick around for the second and third lunch periods instead of heading to their afternoon classes, but...she was a good student sometimes. So instead of hanging out in the lunchroom like she wanted to, she nodded and gathered her things. On their way out of the cafeteria, she dumped her garbage into one of the many bins near the exit and ditched her empty tray on top.

"Why don't they do half days for the first day of school?" she asked while the two of them made their way towards the classrooms. When Pyrrha laughed, Yang smiled and shifted her backpack on her shoulder.

"They didn't take _any_ of your suggestions, did they?" Pyrrha teased while leading the way to their next class - which, thankfully, they had together. That was about the only positive thing about this class though...

"I also suggested they remove Economics from everyone's schedule, but they didn't listen to that one either." Pyrrha's laughter only encouraged Yang to continue her train of thought. "I mean, what _is_ Economics anyway? I bet it isn't important at all."

"I'm pretty sure it is…"

"But _home_ economics is sewing and stuff, right?" Yang replied while they walked up a set of stairs. "That means…"

Scrunching up her nose, Yang tried to figure out the correlation between the two classes. Unfortunately, she hadn't taken either so had no idea what she was getting into.

"Don't hurt your brain before class starts," Pyrrha recommended as they walked into the classroom with a few minutes to spare.

Their portly teacher was already standing at the front of the room, nodding to every student who walked in before waving them towards the seats. Taking that as their cue to sit whatever they wanted, Yang and Pyrrha picked a pair of seats that were side-by-side (and in the back left corner - where else).

"If I fall asleep, you'll wake me up, right?" Yang whispered while pulling out a pen and notebook.

"I can try…"

"That's all I ask." When the bell rang and the teacher immediately moved to the middle of the room, Yang sighed and prepared for the inevitable - a long-winded spiel about a topic which would definitely _not_ be interesting.

"Welcome, students!" the man said in a big, bellowing voice. "I hope you have your thinking caps ready, because we have a lot to learn today!"

After sharing a glance with Pyrrha, Yang sighed again and opened her notebook. Meanwhile, their teacher launched into his first and hopefully only rant about how amazing this class would be. While he enlightened them on the wonders of economics, Yang wrote her name at the top of a blank page before drawing a slow spiral that grew bigger and bigger with each passing second.

It was the first day! Would it really be so bad if they had an easy first day of school? Maybe just some introductions and icebreaker games or something?

Resigned to her fate, she drew a variety of little shapes while tuning in every few minutes to see if she was missing anything vital. She wasn't. And the class was just as boring as she imagined it would be. It didn't help that it was right after lunch, so her stomach was full and she was ready for a nap.

All she had to do was survive a few more classes...just a few more classes and school would be over. Then she could have some fun at practice. Then she could go home and be a sloth for as long as possible until she had to wake up and do this all over again.

When the teacher started drawing graphs on the board, Yang copied the various lines and curves in the midst of her growing page of shapes. Then he started drawing arrows...and more graphs that were only a little bit different from the first ones...all while his voice never stopped bellowing at them from the front of the class.

It was all very riveting.

What felt like a lifetime later, the bell mercifully rang and freed them from the chains of supply and demand. Flipping her notebook shut, Yang shoved it into her bag along with the handouts she somehow collected.

"At least nothing's due tomorrow," she told Pyrrha while they walked into the hall together.

"Silver lining." With a smile, Pyrrha gestured in the opposite direction that Yang needed to go. "I'll see you after school?"

"Of course!"

"Good. Try to learn _something_ today," Pyrrha called over her shoulder while walking away.

"Unlikely!" Yang replied before chuckling to herself. And at that moment, she caught a glimpse of Blake walking across the intersecting hallway nearby.

It was nothing more than a flash, but it made Yang's heart cartwheel in her chest.

Unfortunately, Pyrrha also noticed the chance passing. Turning around, she raised her brow at Yang - clearly saying something along the lines of 'uh huh, I saw that too.' When Yang raised her hands in a 'what did I do?' type of way, Pyrrha laughed and continued towards her class. It took Yang another few seconds to shake off the unexpected encounter, but she finally spurred her feet into motion and hurried in the opposite direction.

She wished Pyrrha didn't know her so well! That was a lie...but Pyrrha's ability to read her mind was embarrassing at times like this.

Surprisingly, Yang's energy was now fully restored, and her mind was no longer a pile of economics-induced mush. Her thoughts were actually running quite fast at the moment, although most of them were focused upon a certain new student she hadn't expected to meet this morning.

After arriving early for her next class - hopefully a somewhat-interesting world literature course - she repeated the routine she'd followed in every class so far. Backpack open, notebook out, writing utensil out, quasi-listen to the teacher while also thinking about other things. Like how she had History of Vale after this, which was probably going to be the most bone-dry class ever. Or how boxing practice would be the perfect end to this day.

But besides all those little thoughts, one important question stuck in the forefront of her mind.

How _did_ princes flirt?

She imagined they'd be super chivalrous - opening doors and helping ladies jump down from horses and stuff - but did they have any good lines that they used? 'Mighty fine corset you're wearing - I also find it hard to breathe around you'? Or 'This crown is a little too small - perhaps it will fit you?'

Replaying their interaction from this morning, Yang could still remember how pleased Blake was when she so readily played along with the joke.

Which Yang completely understood. If she got a stranger to go along with something like that, she'd be pretty amused too. Of course, she was nowhere near clever enough to trick someone into something like that...and maybe that's why she found it difficult to steer her mind away from Blake.

If Blake had been trying to get Yang's attention...well, she definitely succeeded. Now Yang couldn't wait until the moment they saw each other again, even if it was only a glimpse in the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Thank you for all of the support 3 3**

 **Happy holidays!**

* * *

In order to make it to her favorite part of the day, Yang had to survive a slog of classes and onslaught of 'assigned reading' that shouldn't even exist on the first day of school. But, mercifully, the final bell finally rang, and school gave way to _freedom_. Well, freedom and boxing practice.

Her preferred choice of seating meant she was normally last out of the classroom, but she quickly joined the mad rush of students heading towards the exits. Relief and exhaustion were the two most prevalent emotions in the air, but Yang's energy rose as soon as she grabbed her gym bag from her locker.

She was barely as tall as the top rope in a boxing ring when her dad signed her up for lessons, but it had been a constant piece of her life ever since. At first, she just thought it was fun to wear the padded gloves and punch at things - it was really 'cool.' What she didn't realize at the time was how much the sport taught her about patience and discipline - how it enforced restraint and trained her to use her fists only in the ring, or when absolutely necessary.

These days, she looked forward to practice as a chance to hang out with friends, have some bouts, and get in a good workout.

After joining the throng of students heading through the main artery of school, she took a left and ducked into the locker room next to the gym instead of following everyone outside. And who was the first person she found inside the locker room, already dressed and ready for track practice?

Pyrrha Nikos, of course.

"What'd you do - run here?" Yang asked while tossing her gym bag on a bench.

"My last class is just down the hall."

"Lucky!" Pulling out the workout clothes she'd packed this morning, Yang sent Pyrrha a quick grin. "Wait for me?"

"Sure," Pyrrha replied, standing patiently by the doorway while Yang changed as fast as possible. By the time she pulled on a pair of sneakers and shoved her bag into an empty locker, the room was filling with the other students who had practices this afternoon.

Slamming the locker door shut, Yang gave Pyrrha a thumbs up before following her into the hall and to the gym.

"Day one complete."

Satisfied with that accomplishment, Yang drew a big check mark in the air before shoving open one of the metal double doors leading into Vale High's gymnasium.

Since Vale High valued sports nearly as much as academics, their gym was oversized - large enough to hold a basketball court and an additional side area that was used by other sports. Right now, it held the boxing ring and a badminton court. Because what high school didn't have a badminton team?

Lots, it turned out. The team often had trouble finding opponents, which is why Yang might've gone over and tried her hand at the game once or twice. She sucked at it. Well, either she sucked or the team members were ridiculously good.

Basketball wasn't in season right now, but that was impossible to tell with what looked like every tall girl in the school milling around the court. White knee pads and volleyball nets gave away the sport though, and several of the older players already had volleyballs out and were hitting back and forth. While Yang and Pyrrha made their way to the far side of the gym, they waved to several of the girls they knew from classes and general sports stuff.

"Yang!"

No sooner had Yang heard her name did a large weight unexpectedly land on her back, making her let out a grunt of effort while her legs buckled in surprise. Fortunately, she managed to lock her knees and keep herself from falling while an arm looped around her neck.

"We haven't seen each other in for-everrrr!"

"Nora, we saw each other this morning!" she said, craning her neck to see her friend latched on for a ride to the other side of the gym.

"That's practically forever," Nora replied with a giggle. Shaking her head, Yang tried to resituate Nora while walking as if nothing was attached to her like a sloth - a very heavy sloth who wouldn't quit moving.

"Is there a problem with your legs? Is that why you're not walking?" Yang huffed while taking several heavy steps. She hadn't thought that her workout would start so early…

"Yeah, they're broken! Can't walk until practice starts!"

Rolling her eyes, Yang was suddenly thankful that the gym wasn't _that_ big. Otherwise, she might collapse in the middle of the room, and _that_ would be more than a little embarrassing.

"Looks like you have a new fan," Pyrrha pointed out, smiling as she nodded off to their right. Turning towards the stands, Yang immediately spotted Blake walking up the steps of the bleachers.

Just _seeing_ Blake made Yang's heart beat faster. Or maybe that had something to do with carrying a not-so-pint-sized boxer across the gym…

"Who?" Nora asked, her arm briefly tightening around Yang's windpipe while trying to get a better view.

"The girl with long, black hair."

After spotting Blake - the only person in the stands with long, black hair - Nora gasped in Yang's ear.

"The You-Crew has expanded!"

Chuckling, Yang shook her head at the ridiculous nickname Nora had given to the students who hung out in the gym after school. 'Why You-Crew?' Yang had asked. 'Because they're here for Y-O-U,' was the giddy answer.

With Nora's arm only _partially_ cutting into her windpipe now, Yang watched Blake pick out a seat near the top of the bleachers. After unzipping her bag, she pulled out a notebook and looked like she was going to start on homework. Unfortunately (for Yang), she didn't look up and didn't seem to have any interest in what was happening on the gym floor below her.

Contrary to popular belief, people didn't hang around to watch Yang practice - they had completely legitimate reasons to sit in the gym after school. Most of the time their parents couldn't get them until later, so they hung out here while waiting - chatting or getting ahead on homework. Maybe one or two showed up to see Yang, but she honestly tried to avoid them as much as possible.

When they made it to the other side of the gym, Nora finally dropped off of Yang's back while Pyrrha kept walking.

"Have a good practice!" she called out before heading outside, making sure to wave before disappearing beyond the set of double doors leading to the outdoor track.

"We're gonna have an _awesome_ practice, right?" Nora asked, following Yang to their little corner of the gym. "Like, we'll skip right to fighting?"

"You know we have to warm up first." Shooting a glance towards the bleachers, Yang barely caught sight of Blake before forcing her attention back to Nora. " _And_ we need to wait for everyone else to get here."

Predictably, Nora pouted at the reply. The only reason she came to practice was so she could swing her fists at things, and Yang was delaying her from swinging her fists at those things. Nevermind that they warmed up to prevent injuries - she wanted to fight _now_.

Yang didn't understand how, of all people, _she_ ended up being the voice of reason. But she knew Nora's fighting style and knew Nora was one cold muscle away from being sidelined by a sprain. What was worse - Nora pouting now, or Nora having no way to release steam later?

That was one of the easiest answers in the history of easy answers. Why couldn't they put questions like that on tests?

"Hey guys!"

Glancing over and finding a few more teammates joining them, Yang smiled.

"Hey," she said, chuckling when Nora wrapped each of the three girls in a crushing hug - lifting their feet right off the floor in the process. While Nora struck up a happy conversation with their arriving team members, Yang's attention drifted back to Blake.

Blake was reading now, but it looked like she was reading a regular book instead of a textbook. Was it for class or for fun? If it was just for fun, why was she reading it here instead of at home? Waiting for parents? Or some other reason?

All of those questions and more ran through Yang's mind while she half-heartedly listened to Nora tell wild tales about what had happened to her in the couple of days they'd been apart. Normally Yang participated in the conversation a little more, but today she was just a bit distracted by the new girl sitting in the bleachers right above their practice.

Was it lame that she secretly hoped Blake would look up and catch her eyes?

"Good afternoon, ladies."

Finally tearing her attention away, Yang grinned at the man walking over to them.

"Hey Coach!" she said while the others added their own greetings.

Coach Ironwood was a towering man - tall, but slim. He'd retired from fighting after some serious shoulder injuries but took up coaching as a way to pass on his knowledge. He was fair, but stern - at least, he pretended to be. Unfortunately (for him), he couldn't say 'no' to any of them - a weakness each and every member of the team had already learned and exploited at least once.

"Alright," he began in a calm voice. "I know this is the first day of school, but it isn't the first day of practice. Our opening match is next week, and there's a lot of preparation we need to do between now and then."

The first match of the year was always exciting - their first opportunity to compete for real - but, in this case, also made Yang want to groan out loud. The scheduling gods hadn't worked in her favor, and Vale High drew her _least_ favorite school at the beginning of the year. At least they'd get it out of the way early and then she could enjoy the rest of the season…

While Coach Ironwood laid out some ground rules for the newest members of their team, Yang leaned towards Nora and whispered "Lots of newbies."

"Wonder why they're here," Nora whispered back, poking Yang in the shoulder before pointing directly at her. When Yang made a grab for Nora's finger, Nora hopped away and giggled. The sound made Yang smile, but she shook her head at Nora's antics and took another look at their potential new teammates.

The returning members of the club had practiced and worked out together all summer, but the freshmen were only allowed to join once school started. The delayed start meant they were way behind in terms of training, but thankfully they weren't expected to participate in any matches until the end of the year. That gave them plenty of time to learn the basics before going up against the new members from other schools.

New teammates, new students - there was lots of 'new' going on today.

As Yang's eyes drifted around the gym, they once again landed on the girl reading by herself at the top of the bleachers. Maybe tomorrow Yang could ask Blake what she was reading...

"Yang!"

Her name was accompanied by a powerful jab to her right shoulder.

"Coach said it's time to warm-up," Nora told her, pulling Yang out of her distracted stupor to find her teammates waiting for her to lead their warm-ups.

"Right. Sorry," she said, forcing a smile before setting off for the track at a quick jog.

Based on her years of experience, she was unofficially elected leader of their small boxing team. Not that she minded! She was used to helping out, which meant she normally found herself in charge of running drills and warm-ups.

"Three laps!" she called out, holding up three fingers while leading them around the track. The track team had just started practice, but they only used the four inner lanes for their warm-ups, allowing the other teams to utilize the outer lanes for the first half hour.

So as not to discourage the new girls - who probably weren't fully prepared for the level of activity they'd just gotten themselves into - Yang kept the pace nice and easy. Slow enough that everyone would stick together, fast enough that they'd work up some level of sweat by the time three laps were done.

When they reached the far corner of the track, Yang smiled and waved when she found Ruby standing with a group of sprinters. Well, the other sprinters were standing - Ruby was jumping up and down in excitement. As usual, she was thrilled to be at practice, and Yang could tell that the infectious energy was already spreading to her teammates.

And then, as they rounded the bend, Yang spotted Pyrrha - who stood at one end of the field explaining something while a group of newcomers practically drooled over her. And Nora said that _Yang_ had a fan club…

When Pyrrha caught Yang's gaze, she smiled and waved. The small gesture directed everyone's attention to Yang, who laughed and waved back.

Sometimes, she wished she was on the track team. Mostly because it would be fun to be on the same team with Ruby and Pyrrha. But Yang knew how much they ran...all they did was run...all the time...

Sure, there was a lot more to it than that, like maintaining the proper form and breathing technique, but still...she needed something a little more _exciting_. Jogging for warm-ups was more than enough running for her. Which is why, after finishing their three laps, she immediately led everyone inside and back to their corner of the gym.

"Ok, let's stretch," she said, directing the instruction mostly towards the new girls. The returning members already knew the drill and were going through the stretches they always did. Arms, legs, yadda yadda yadda - they'd gone through the same routine hundreds of times by now, enough times that they could finish it with their eyes closed.

Something was new about today, however. While Yang usually loved the stretching part of practice because they were allowed to chat at the same time, today she was...distracted. It didn't help that her eyes wandered towards the top of the bleachers every couple of minutes.

She didn't know why she kept glancing up there - Blake was always reading and not watching the boxing team.

Not that Blake had to watch their practice or anything! It was totally up to her what she wanted to do with her free time. But if Yang was the only one constantly trying to make eye contact, then this...whatever this was...was pretty one-sided.

Maybe she should just concentrate on practice…

"Switch," she said, swinging her other arm around to stretch and smiling when the new girls followed her lead.

At least they weren't asking a ton of stupid questions already. Technically, there were no stupid questions. Unofficially, there definitely were - and they always seemed to come up on the first day of practice. 'Can I get hurt doing this?' 'Can I practice once a week instead of every day?' And Yang's personal favorite: 'It's not _too_ difficult, right?'

"Alright," she said, swinging her arms back and forth while rolling her neck. "Stretch anything else you need to before we start."

As usual, most of the team took the time to relax and chat rather than continue stretching, which meant they were ready to go. And perfect timing too - Coach Ironwood was already walking back over to them.

"Ready, Coach!" Yang said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Good." Nodding once, he turned to address the team as a whole. "We'll start with the basics. Grab a partner and run through fifty jabs each side. No gloves. Newbies with returners."

Before Nora groaned, Yang tagged the girl in the ribs and shook her head. Working on technical stuff like this was monotonous, which was why Nora hated it so much, but it made them better. Yang didn't particularly like it either, but after years of going through 'fifty jabs each side' she'd learned to grin and bear it. Apparently, the method worked because now she could jab like a pro!

After looking around their small group, Yang did as instructed and picked one of the new girls to work with for this exercise.

"Hey," she said, catching the attention of a slender girl with a light brown ponytail and light green eyes. "Wanna work together?"

When the girl nodded, Yang motioned her off to the side so they had more space. Everyone else paired off and picked their spot of the gym floor to work while Coach Ironwood walked around them to provide his expert guidance on a case-by-case basis.

"What's your name?" Yang asked while they set up standing across from one another.

"Hannah."

"Hey Hannah. I'm Yang." When Yang extended one hand, Hannah shook it and smiled. "Have you ever boxed before?"

"No."

"What made you interested in joining then?" Yang asked curiously.

"My friend won't stop talking about how awesome it is," Hannah answered, nodding towards the bleachers. "I thought I'd try it out and see if I can do it."

Following the direction of Hannah's nod, Yang caught the tail-end of a wave from one of the girls sitting with a group of friends only a couple of rows up. As soon as Yang looked their way, however, they started whispering excitedly amongst themselves.

"She's part of the You-Crew?" Yang asked in dismay.

"What?"

"Uh, she's here to watch you?" she fudged, turning away from the bleachers.

"Oh. Yeah, she said she wanted to watch practice."

"You mean she wanted to watch you," Yang teased, nudging Hannah's arm and grinning when a faint blush appeared. "But she got you here, so let's see whatcha got! Raise your fists."

This was the best way to see someone's natural instincts, and Hannah's were...actually not too bad! Just needed a little tweaking...

"Ok, clench your fists like this -" Holding up one hand, Yang folded her fingers into a solid fist. "And tuck in your elbows…good!"

Satisfied that Hannah was catching on, Yang stood beside her to illustrate how to throw a proper jab.

"Now watch closely," Yang instructed before running through one at half speed. "See the line my arm and shoulder make?"

She drew a horizontal line in the air before running through another example - her fist traveling along the same path. After watching closely, Hannah nodded.

"Good. It's as easy as that - now you try!"

Standing off to the side, Yang watched Hannah try a slow jab that actually looked pretty darn good.

"Try to straighten out a little bit," Yang suggested before throwing another jab at a faster pace and pointing out the spot where Hannah hitched her elbow. After watching Yang's example, Hannah practiced one more time, then turned around with an inquisitive expression.

"Lookin' good!" Yang said with a big smile. "How does it feel?"

"A little weird," Hannah answered honestly, making Yang laugh.

"It will at first, but keep going - only forty-eight more!"

Scrunching her brow in concentration, Hannah stared straight ahead and began a series of jabs that looked moderately clean and tidy. It was challenging to perfect these moves at a slow pace, but it was another level of difficult to remember the positioning at full speed. The hope was that if they did a thousand _perfect_ repetitions at half pace, they could do several _nearly-perfect_ reps at full speed.

Noticing a small slip up, Yang stepped forward again.

"Make sure to keep up the proper form," she instructed while re-forming Hannah's hand into a fist. "We don't need you breaking your hand."

"What?" Hannah asked with wide eyes. "I could break my hand?"

Chuckling at the question, Yang pressed Hannah's fingers into the proper fist. "Guessing your friend didn't mention that boxing's a little dangerous?"

"She just thinks it's cool..."

"It is! But you've got to take it seriously, or you could get hurt. Alright?"

Nodding, Hannah resumed her practice with an air of determination. Making sure her form didn't slip again, Yang watched closely for the next fifteen or so repetitions before her eyes drifted to the bleachers - only to catch someone looking back at her. _Finally_ meeting Blake's eyes, Yang smiled and sent up a small wave - a wave that Blake returned before turning back to her book.

Suddenly, Yang felt like she was standing on clouds or a trampoline or something. Everything was light and bouncy, and she couldn't keep this goofy smile from appearing. Her teammates probably thought she was crazy - why was she smiling like that while watching some newbie boxers mess up their jabs?

But Blake _was_ watching. At least, she was watching at that tiny little moment in time. But if she looked once, maybe she would again, right?

Feeling a tremendous amount of renewed energy, Yang watched the newcomers and found most of them getting the hang of the first drill. Then she noticed a rather-stationary Nora...who actually raised her hand to cover a yawn.

"Hey Jazz -" Yang said, catching the attention of one of the other returners nearby. "Can you keep an eye on her for a second?" she asked, pointing to Hannah and smiling when the girl looked her way. "She's already a pro, but make sure she doesn't relax her fist too much."

"You got it."

With a nod, Yang walked over and tapped Nora's shoulder.

"We have to do the drill too." As expected, Nora pouted, so Yang decided to sweeten the deal. "Come on - we'll run through it with gloves."

Using gloves meant they wouldn't be punching air, which meant Nora was instantly on board.

"Ok!" Racing over to the pile of equipment nearby, Nora tossed Yang's gloves over to her and then grabbed a pair of punching mitts.

"Wanna make it interesting?" Yang asked while pulling on her gloves, knowing that nothing held Nora's attention better than a competition. "Let's see who can finish fastest."

"Yes! Only let's do a hundred!" Thrilled by the timed-trial, Nora slipped on the mitts and held up her hands for Yang to punch into. "On your mark, Blondie!"

Glancing at the clock hung on the wall of the gym, Yang waited for the second hand to make a full circle before throwing the first blow - crisp and fast - into Nora's waiting mitts. Because she already knew how to throw a damn-near-perfect jab, her focus of this exercise was being as fast and efficient as possible.

Alternating between hands so she could move even faster, she flew through the set - each successful jab landing in Nora's mitts with a satisfying _thump_ of success. The first fifty repetitions were a piece of cake - Yang hardly broke a sweat. The next fifty were...a little more difficult…and perspiration broke out on her brow while her arms grew tired and heavy.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!" she exclaimed while popping one last jab and letting her arms fall like dead weights to her side. "Jeez, I'm beat already."

"That was like two minutes!" After pulling off the mitts, Nora quickly switched gloves with Yang. "Bet I can do it in under two!"

"Whatever you say, Nora," Yang replied with a roll of her eyes. "Don't get too cocky now."

Switching equipment, Yang held up the punching mitts and - out of the corner of her eye - happened to catch Blake watching them. Turning fully towards the girl and smiling, Yang missed Nora's starting signal and let out a surprised "oomph" when a heavy fist pounded into her hands. The next one landed immediately after, forcing Yang a step back to cushion the blows.

It was probably important to focus on Nora instead of Blake right now. Otherwise, Nora might unintentionally level Yang in front of everyone, and that would be just a _tad_ humiliating.

As expected, Nora took the contest seriously. Each jab rocketed into Yang's hands with more power than necessary, but Nora was more concerned with being fast rather than efficient with her motions. As a result, her form loosened and started going all over the place.

"Tighten up, Nora," Yang prodded her near the middle of the set. Nora heeded the instruction and tightened her motions, but maintaining proper form made her slower. And in a race against the clock, slower was _not_ better.

From Nora's furrowed brow, Yang could tell that the girl was struggling with which pursuit she wanted to follow more. Maintain good form and lose, or do everything possible to win?

"Keep it tight," Yang reiterated when Nora started loosening up again. And this time, Nora did as Yang said - and focused on maintaining it through the rest of the repetitions.

"One hundred!" Nora cheered as she planted the last jab in Yang's right mitt. "Time?"

Looking at the clock, Yang chuckled and shook her head.

"Two and a half minutes." Noticing the way Nora's bottom lip began to pout, Yang hurried onward. "But that was great, Nora. Your form on the last couple dozen was perfect!"

Reaching out and shaking Nora's shoulder, Yang laughed when Nora finally smiled.

"I guess…" she hummed before losing her pout entirely. "They did feel really good!"

"See? That's what happens. You can feel when they're right." When Nora nodded at the response, Yang picked up their equipment and motioned Nora back towards the rest of their team. "Come on, let's see what Coach has for us next."

As it turned out, Coach Ironwood showed them some grapple and dodge techniques next, but Yang had learned them all years ago. It was brand new to their rookies though and still worth practicing for some of the returners. For the most experienced amongst them, however, it was kind of like repeating freshman year...

"Yang, why don't you spar with Nora?" Coach Ironwood suggested, gesturing to a rather bored Nora before returning his focus to the less-experienced fighters. Meanwhile, Nora broke into a huge grin at the idea.

"Just what I wanted!" she sang while skipping to the boxing ring that had gone unused so far this practice.

Happy to have something more exciting to do, Yang gladly followed and stepped through the ropes Nora held open for her.

"Remember what Coach said last week," Yang warned. " _Controlled_ mayhem."

With that slightly-psychotic smile of hers, Nora shoved a hot pink mouthguard into her mouth.

"Cho gottit."

Slipping her own guard into her mouth, Yang gloved up while Nora did the same. As soon as they were both ready, Yang tapped Nora's gloves before bouncing back on her toes, adrenaline building while the reality of the fight set in. She liked this moment - the anticipation of a fight to come, knowing she'd have the opportunity to dodge and block the incoming blows while throwing a few of her own.

For a moment, there was a period of calm as they rocked on their toes in front of each other. It was the calm before the storm, however, because Nora quickly came out guns blazing - or, more accurately, fists flying. Left, right, uppercut, jab, jab - Yang dodged the blows she could while deflecting or absorbing the rest. Each fist that connected sent a tremor through her body that amplified her adrenaline.

Nora was a good fighter because she was unpredictable and strong.

Nora was a bad fighter because she was impatient and hated doing the little work needed to tactically win a fight. The less she got through to Yang, the more risks she would take - Yang only had to defend and wait her out. One of Yang's strong suits happened to be defense, so it never took very long.

Today, Nora's impatience showed itself in a long, winding hook loaded with power. If it connected, it would knock just about anyone out, but when Yang took a quick step backward the blow whooshed by her nose and threw Nora off balance instead. In that moment of weakness, Yang threw two quick jabs before quickly wrapping Nora in a headlock.

It wasn't the most legal of moves, but Yang had learned the hard way that it was one of the only ways to get Nora to stop fighting. Anything less, and Nora would continue until someone actually knocked her down. Seeing as how this was just practice, Yang wasn't willing to be the deliverer of such a blow.

"Gotcha," she said through her guard, the word coming out slurred while Nora struggled in her arms.

After spending a few seconds trying to free herself, Nora eventually relaxed. As soon as that happened, Yang released her grip and pushed Nora a safe distance away. One time, Nora only _pretended_ to give up...and then decked Yang as soon as she lowered her guard. She'd learned from that, too!

But Nora was still grinning - happy to fight and skip the 'boring' practice reps that would make her better.

"Again?" she asked.

When Yang nodded, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning towards the disturbance, she found that Blake had stood up and was slinging her bag over one shoulder. Next, she headed down the bleacher steps towards them.

Quickly gesturing that she needed a second, Yang spit out her mouth guard and jogged to the edge of the ring. By the time Blake reached the gym floor, Yang was standing at the edge of the ropes waiting for her.

"Hey are you interested in boxing?" Yang asked, if only to have something to say. The question made Blake pause and give another one of those smiles - the one that suggested she knew more than she was letting on.

"I've seen you fight. I don't think I want to be on the receiving end of one of those punches."

When Blake resumed walking, Yang followed her path from inside the ring.

"You've seen me fight? Where at?"

"School," Blake replied, smiling while walking backward away. "Where else?"

The corner of the ring stopped Yang's progress, otherwise she might've followed Blake all the way outside. Instead, she felt that silly grin return to her lips while watching Blake walk away.

She got the feeling that Blake was playing with her. And she didn't know why she liked it so much.

"Who's that?"

Glancing at Nora, Yang turned back just as Blake walked out of the gym and the door closed behind her.

"New girl. Her name's Blake."

"You guys know each other?"

"No - she must've seen me at a match though."

Vale High competed against Menagerie every year, so it was possible that Blake saw one of the matches over there. Maybe the one last year? That was a good one...

"Huh…" Nora said, looking thoughtful for a half second before grinning. "She's cute. When ya gonna ask her out?"

Turning around, Yang punched Nora in the shoulder - hard. Far harder than she'd ever hit anyone else, but Nora just laughed it off and bounced away.

"Come on, one more round!"

It was actually a couple of rounds later before Nora was finally forced to partake in some actual learning. And, before Yang knew it, they were cooling down and heading off to the locker room to change back into regular clothes. It was from there that the rest of her teammates dispersed their separate ways - everyone tired and ready to go home.

Before Yang could head home, however, she had to wait for Ruby to run in from track practice. And she literally meant _run_. A normal person would be tired after sprinting around a track for a couple of hours, but Ruby wasn't. She whizzed through the doors wearing a pair of track pants and a track jacket while her backpack hung from one shoulder.

"Hey Yang!" she called out, only slowing her rapid pace to fall in step beside Yang. She'd made it clear several times that they were _not_ running all the way home. No way.

"Hey Ruby! How was practice?" she asked, waving goodbye to Pyrrha and Jaune while heading towards the exit of the gym.

"Good! Got to run and stuff."

"And classes?"

"Ugh...they're teaching us trigonometry _already_ Yang! It's the first day! Why do I need to know trigonometry?"

"For...uh...math purposes?" Yang guessed when Ruby looked like she actually wanted an answer to that question. When Ruby let out a disgruntled huff of air, Yang chuckled and nudged her shoulder. "Anything exciting happen though? Not class-related?"

"I met a guy with a pet frog!"

"Really? That's…"

'Weird' might be the usual answer, but Ruby loved weird. Ruby _was_ weird.

"That's cool," Yang replied instead, smiling at how happy Ruby looked by the encounter.

"Yeah! His name's Freddy, and I got to hold him!"

"We're still talking about the frog, right?"

Thankfully, Ruby nodded.

"Freddy is the frog, Trevor is his owner. He brings Freddy everywhere! He was all slimy and stuck to my hand!"

"Freddy the Frog," Yang repeated, shaking her head. "This school gets stranger every year."

She and Ruby were alike in many ways, but one of their most important similarities was their willingness to befriend anyone and everyone. Why else would Weiss Schnee be sitting with them at lunch every day?

...that was one Yang wished Ruby could take back.

Actually, that wasn't true. For as much grief as Weiss gave her, Yang enjoyed her company, in a way. And even though Weiss seemed to be annoyed by everyone's existence besides Ruby's...well, everyone got lonely sometimes.

"Did you meet anyone cool today?" Ruby asked in return.

"A freshman who's basically a walking calculator. And then…" Trailing off, Yang grinned while the two of them walked outside together. "And then there's the new girl - Blake."

"The smart one?"

Yang's smile grew when she remembered how Blake had fooled her into flirting like a prince.

"Yup. That's the one."

After heading down the steps and reaching the sidewalk, Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulders and hugged her close. With the first day of school officially in the books, she couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

**I nearly forgot to post this again - I'm sorry! I really wish ff had an autoposting thing...**

 **Back to it though! More happy thoughts :D**

* * *

The next morning was different from any other morning. Maybe because it was a Thursday? That didn't seem very special because there were _lots_ of Thursdays, but something about this Thursday was different.

Whatever it was, Yang broke routine and didn't snooze her alarm multiple times like she usually did. Nope. The instant that bad boy went off, she silenced it and popped out of bed like she was a straight-A student or something. Like Weiss. She imagined that Weiss popped out of bed, probably _before_ her alarm went off. No, Weiss didn't even set an alarm. She didn't need such trivial human inventions to wake her up. Her _mind_ was much more powerful than any alarm clock.

Yang still needed an alarm.

But after her alarm went off, she was ready for the day in a fraction of the usual time. It helped that she'd picked out her outfit last night - because she wanted to look extra put together and coordinated today. And she'd already packed her gym bag with a new set of practice gear, and put her gym bag into her backpack, which still had all her books in it since she hadn't bothered removing them yesterday. Basically, everything was already done - she just needed to go through the motions of the morning!

Yesterday, she hadn't wanted to go to school, but today she was excited to get there. Not because she'd had a brain transplant and was suddenly excited about all the _learning_ she was supposed to do, but because the _people_ at school were awesome. Nora, Pyrrha, Ruby - all great. And Weiss, kind of tolerable.

Besides the regulars, Yang met some great _new_ students yesterday. There was the math whiz, Violet, the up-and-coming boxing superstar, Hannah, and the new girl...Blake.

Lots of people to be excited about!

Dressed and ready, Yang grabbed her bag and took one last look at herself in the mirror. Fortunately, her hair had decided to be extra cooperative today, and her outfit was on point. Maybe spending time picking everything out the night before wasn't such a bad idea. There were definitely visible results.

Satisfied with her appearance, she opened the door and stepped into the hallway only to find that Ruby's door wasn't even open yet. She was _that_ early.

Well...these were uncharted waters now. Ruby was _always_ ready first. It was part of that whole 'speed' thing she had going on.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled before heading downstairs at a jog. While slipping on the shoes she'd set out for herself last night, she heard hurried rustling coming from upstairs, which was definitely Ruby scrambling to get ready.

Already ready to go, Yang headed into the kitchen to grab something to eat. As usual, her dad sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper laid out in front of him. When she walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, he did a double take when seeing that she was the first one downstairs.

"Did Ruby already leave?" he asked, setting the mug down and turning to watch her grab a plain bagel from the countertop. Before she could respond, both of them heard what sounded like a herd of...very light-footed cats...tumbling down the stairs and into the entryway.

Poking her head out of the kitchen, Yang grinned while Ruby scrambled for a pair of sneakers.

"Jeez Ruby, you're such a slowpoke!" Yang teased, earning a grumble before smiling at her dad. "Bye Dad! Try not to miss us too much!"

Opening the front door, she gestured for Ruby to get a move on so they could leave. Of course, just as Ruby got her shoes on and both of her legs straightened out, she stood up and gasped.

"Gotta say bye to Dad!"

When Ruby raced into the kitchen to find him, Yang groaned. Sure, they were early and sure, they had plenty of time, but she wanted to leave already! So, after silently counting to three, she hurried outside and heard Ruby shoot through the door behind her.

"What's got into you?" Ruby asked after catching up to Yang on the sidewalk - the two of them finally falling into step together.

"Nothing. Just excited for school!" When Yang smiled, Ruby looked at her like she was crazy.

"Then something's wrong. You're _never_ excited for school."

Laughing at the (true) statement, Yang threw her arm around Ruby's shoulders and tugged her close.

"It's my last year, Ruby - gotta enjoy it while it lasts!"

"Are you gonna miss me next year?"

"You know it." While saying the words, Yang ruffled Ruby's short hair - earning a disgruntled protest while Ruby pulled away.

Thankfully, Yang wasn't worried about leaving Ruby behind - not like she'd been when she left elementary and middle school. Ruby was no longer the little shrimp that bullies tried to pick on. Those years were long, _long_ gone. Not because of anything Yang did, but because Ruby had grown up to be pretty popular herself. She was super sweet and willing to be friends with anyone and everyone. Plus, she was well-known and respected as the star of the track team. Even without having a bodyguard around, she'd be perfectly fine for the last two years of school - Yang was sure about it.

There were pros and cons of not having to worry about Ruby though. The good thing was that...well, Yang didn't have to worry. And she didn't have to come back and kick anyone's butt. The bad thing was that if she didn't have to worry, then all she could do was be sad that she wouldn't get to see her sister at school every day.

"I'm going to miss you too!" Ruby replied. "It's gonna suck without you or Weiss or Pyrrha around!"

"Ugh…" Yang groaned. "Did you have to group us together with Weiss?"

"I really like Weiss!"

"Well you might be the only one," she teased, tickling Ruby's sides while the school building came into view.

Honestly, Yang didn't know how Ruby and Weiss became friends, to begin with. How did they even cross paths? At the library? Yang had it on good authority that Ruby spent very little time in the library, while Weiss spent a fair amount of her free time there. So how did it happen?

Maybe one day she'd ask Ruby for that side of the story. Assuming that they bumped into each other in the hallway - which was something Ruby would do because she was a bit of a klutz - what happened next? Knowing Weiss, her response would be to berate Ruby for being careless and not paying attention. And then...they became best friends?

Whatever happened, it went against everything Yang had learned about Weiss during their first two years of school together. The older girl was _notoriously_ difficult to befriend and, apparently, even more difficult to get rid of once you had.

"What're you gonna do before school starts?" Ruby asked while they cut across the mostly-empty parking lot.

"Hang out in homeroom, most likely." Out of the corner of her eye, Yang caught the confused look Ruby gave her but shrugged as if that was something she normally did. "I want to catch up with a few people before class starts."

The answer only moderately erased some of Ruby's suspicions, but the rest disappeared when they headed up the steps and into the building.

"Ruby!" someone called out almost as soon as they stepped inside. Turning towards the unfamiliar voice, Yang saw a younger girl waving at them. Or, more specifically, at Ruby.

"Ah, gotta go, Yang!" Hopping away, Ruby gave Yang one last parting grin. "I'll see you later!"

"Have a good day!"

With a wave, Ruby raced off to join her friend - who must also be on the track team from the track jacket she wore. Shaking her head at Ruby's boundless popularity, Yang watched the pair disappear through the gym doors before making her way to homeroom.

Knowing Ruby, she was probably going to run five miles before classes started, which seemed like a crazy idea – mostly because running that much would be horrible, but also because _normal_ people would have to shower afterward or risk smelling for the rest of the day. Of course, Ruby probably wouldn't even break a sweat - Yang was only _partially_ jealous.

But she had better things to do!

On a typical day, she spent her free time dawdling in the halls until the bell rang. But she wouldn't call it pointless dawdling! She liked to talk to people and see how everyone was doing. It was part of her...well, it wasn't her 'job,' but it was part of what she liked to do. By talking to people, she could get a better read of what was going on and where the bad apples might be hiding.

Of course, in the name of _purposefully_ dawdling, she often got caught up in conversation or walked to class with someone new and ended up slipping into her own class right when the bell rang. But not today. Today, she was going directly to class after stopping by her locker to drop off her gym bag and as many books as she could get rid of. If she carried that sack of bricks around all day, she'd have back problems in no time.

After everything was deposited in her locker, she slammed the door shut and spun the combination before heading to homeroom. The moment she walked through the door, she knew she was _way_ early - so early she'd beaten almost everyone else here - everyone except for Blake.

Once again, Blake was reading and seemingly oblivious to everything going on around her - and especially oblivious to the huge grin that lit Yang's face the instant she caught sight of the new girl. All of her efforts to get to school early had paid off, because now she had the chance to talk to Blake for a few minutes without anyone else around.

"Hey, good morning!" Yang said, throwing in a friendly wave once she caught Blake's attention.

"Good morning," Blake replied with an amused smile, closing the book and setting it on her desk. "Are you the official greeter of the school?"

Sensing that Blake wasn't opposed to the added company, Yang dragged a chair over so she could sit down.

"Unfortunately not," she replied with a shake of her head. "But that should be a real thing! I'd love to do that."

"It would be quite the welcome. The famous Yang Xiao Long of Vale High...welcoming all the newcomers."

"Oh come on, I'm not famous," Yang said with a good-natured laugh, although the compliment was flattering enough to make her cheeks warm. "But tell me, how was your first day?"

"It was good. Pretty uneventful."

"Uneventful is normally a good thing. Everyone was nice, I hope?"

For some reason, it felt like Blake had expected the question. Something about her smile...again, she seemed to know something that Yang still wasn't getting.

"Yes, I met some very friendly people. Although...there's one girl who doesn't seem to like me very much."

"Who is it?" Yang asked, her brow furrowing at the news.

"It's probably nothing," Blake replied with a shake of her head. "But her name is Weiss - Weiss Schnee?"

"Oh…" Externally, Yang managed to chuckle - internally, she groaned. "Yeah, she can be difficult..."

"You know her then?"

"She's friends with my sister," Yang explained. "So I know her pretty well. Don't worry though - she comes off as rude and snobby, but she's actually nice, sometimes. You just have to get past the layers and layers of cynicism, sarcasm, and arrogance, and _then_ make it through a few years of indifference. There might be another step after that, but I'm stuck at indifference."

When Blake laughed at the (super accurate) description of Weiss, Yang grinned in delight.

"In that case, maybe she and I can get along some day," Blake concluded, her amber eyes meeting Yang's with a sparkle.

"Well..." Letting her answer trail off, Yang scrunched up her face at the thought. Based on Weiss' attitude yesterday, that might be a _bit_ of a stretch...

But her lack of response made Blake laugh again - the lighthearted sound making Yang's heart do this silly double beat while she grinned.

"Noted," Blake replied with a tilt of her head. "Anyone else I should watch out for?"

"You mean like bullies or something?"

Blake stared straight into Yang's eyes at the question, allowing several full seconds to pass before nodding.

"Exactly. Any bullies I should steer clear of?"

That was a question with a convoluted answer.

"Not really," Yang said, leaning back in her seat and thinking about some of the people on her watch list. "A few kids are kind of mean, but if anyone bothers you - you let me know right away, 'k?"

"And you'll beat them up for me?" Blake asked, again appearing amused by the idea. Yang also chuckled at the term, which made it sound like she was going to get into a brawl - an old-fashioned fight in the schoolyard.

"Maybe not 'beat up,' but I'll definitely talk to them." Thinking about the possible culprits and what they might do, Yang shook her head and let it go with a grin. "But if I have to, I will."

Blake probably didn't take the answer as seriously as Yang meant it, but she smiled regardless.

"That's very sweet of you. I'll keep it in mind, but I think I'll be ok."

"I'm sure you will be! But, you know, just in case."

The two of them smiled at each other for a moment before the sound of rustling and soft laughter drew Yang's attention towards the classroom door. Penny had just walked in and promptly dropped a mile-high stack of cardboard all over the floor, much to the amusement of the other students who'd arrived without Yang noticing.

Jumping out of her seat, Yang rushed over to help pick up the pieces.

"What's with all the cardboard, Penny?" she asked while making a small stack out of the pieces she found. It looked like Penny had cut cardboard boxes into flat squares and then decided, for whatever reason, to bring it all to school.

"A project for home economics!" Penny answered enthusiastically, not at all embarrassed about the early morning spectacle she'd just provided the class. "We're supposed to make our dream home out of cardboard!"

Chuckling at how thrilled Penny was about that assignment, Yang added the last piece of runaway cardboard to her pile, aligned the edges, and picked the entire thing up with both hands.

"This is enough for a pretty big house." Following Penny to her desk, Yang set the pieces down and held them in place when Penny accidentally bumped them with her backpack. "You got it?" Yang asked, waiting for Penny to sit down before releasing the pile to her control.

"Yup!" Penny replied with a big smile. "Thank you, Yang!"

Smiling at the response, Yang patted Penny's shoulder before turning back to Blake, hoping to continue their conversation from earlier. She found that Blake was giving her one of those knowing smiles again - the one she really wanted to know the reason for. But Mr. Oobleck and Pyrrha walked in at that moment, so further knowledge would have to wait for another time.

Walking back to Blake's desk, Yang reluctantly pushed the extra chair back to its rightful place.

"It was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too," Blake replied - the two of them sharing one last smile before Yang headed towards her seat at the back of the room.

"Good morning, Pyrrha," she said while collapsing into her chair.

"Good morning, Yang," Pyrrha replied with a grin. "I see someone got here early to talk to the new girl."

"Just being friendly, you know? We've gotta be welcoming!"

"Well thank you, Yang, for accepting the task of welcoming Blake to our fine school."

"Happy to do it!" When Pyrrha laughed and shook her head, Yang grinned - knowing full well that Pyrrha was still teasing her.

"Good morning, students!" Mr. Oobleck said then, drawing their gazes towards the front of the class. "Welcome to your second day. We have several important matters to discuss -"

Mr. Oobleck must have some sort of magical power in his voice because whenever he started talking, Yang was able to tune him out completely. Instead of listening to the 'important announcements,' she snuck glances at Blake instead.

Blake, however, watched Mr. Oobleck attentively, listening to every word he said. If she was top of the class like Weiss said, that made a lot of sense. People only get to the top if they listen to their teachers, which was why Yang would never be _near_ the top of the class.

In the midst of that thought, Blake suddenly shifted in her seat and glanced across the room - directly at Yang, who was still staring. She immediately averted her eyes, only to glance back and catch a smile before Blake turned around.

Feeling embarrassment heat her cheeks, Yang made sure not to look in Blake's direction for at least the next five seconds. Instead, she watched Mr. Oobleck as if he was the most interesting person in the classroom right now. Which he wasn't - not by a longshot - but she could pretend for a couple of seconds.

Blake caught her staring! That was so embarrassing. Thank god Pyrrha hadn't noticed that slip up, otherwise Yang would never hear the end of it. But Pyrrha was too busy listening to Mr. Oobleck to notice Yang's sudden humiliation.

What was with everyone paying attention in class these days? Oh well, Pyrrha would tell Yang if anything important happened - which it wouldn't because this was only homeroom. Although apparently 'only' homeroom could light her cheeks on fire. Was it hot in here or what?

Embarrassed or not, Yang snuck a few more looks Blake's way throughout the class. The key was to be super stealthy about it and _not_ be caught blatantly staring. The way Mr. Oobleck zoomed back and forth in front of the room certainly helped in that quest. If Yang kept her eyes on him, he'd inevitably walk close enough to the right side of the room that she could let her eyes drift and take a sneak peek at what Blake was up to.

And Blake was always paying attention. Or jotting down a few quick notes. Or lightly tapping one finger on top of her notebook. She wasn't doing anything overtly interesting, yet Yang was still very interested.

When the bell finally rang, Yang gathered her few items together and stood up with a stretch - twisting slightly to take one last glance towards the front of the room and noticing that Blake was already headed towards the door. Although Yang was anxious to follow, she paused first to let out a big yawn. Her lack of snoozing this morning was already wearing on her energy - and the day had just started.

"I won't be at lunch today," Pyrrha said as they walked out of the classroom together, joining the crowd of students just released into the wild.

"Boy Wonder beckons?" Yang teased, grinning at the blush the nickname brought forth on Pyrrha's cheeks. "But ok, I'll see you after school then?"

"Of course."

Winking at Pyrrha, Yang joined the fray of students and set off towards her next class - this time keeping her eyes peeled for Blake. She saw Blake yesterday at her locker, so hopefully today…

Spotting Blake standing at the side of the hall up ahead, Yang altered her path so she could pass by a bit closer.

"Have a good class!" she said while walking past, throwing in a small wave and smile.

"You too, Yang."

Oh...she really liked how Blake said her name.

Turning around with a grin, she walked a few steps backward while holding Blake's gaze before reluctantly turning around again. Noticing someone else waving her way, she smiled and returned the gesture, but her mind never strayed from the girl she just left behind.

Even in her next classes, which were probably trying to teach her...something...she thought about Blake instead of anything written on the board. There was something about that smile. What was it? What did Blake know that Yang didn't?

The answer to that question still eluded her when she walked into the cafeteria several hours later. It was only when her mind tuned back into her surroundings that she remembered Pyrrha was helping Jaune today. And Weiss...it looked like Weiss was serious about studying during lunch because she was nowhere to be found. If Weiss wasn't here, it was highly unlikely Ruby would be here, but Yang scanned the lunchroom for her sister regardless. In doing so, her eyes fell upon someone unexpected.

Blake! What good fortune.

Skipping quickly through the crowds of hungry students, Yang caught up to Blake and joined the lunch line right behind her.

"Hey, wanna eat lunch together?" she asked, grabbing an empty tray and handing it to Blake before grabbing one for herself. Unphased by Yang's sudden appearance, Blake smiled and nodded.

"Sure, I'd love to."

This day just took a turn for the best.

"How was the food at Menagerie?" Yang asked while they picked up their lunch - spaghetti and meatballs with some veggies and a piece of garlic toast.

"It was pretty standard. Not spectacular, but edible."

"Then you'll feel right at home!" Yang replied with a small laugh. "Our cafeteria is the king of mediocre - our lunch ladies, however, are the queens of the kitchen!"

She made sure to say that last part extra loud, earning a smile from the lady standing across from them.

"We already give your sister extra cookies," she teased Yang in return before sliding lunch onto her tray. "You don't need to butter us up anymore."

"Aww, but Miss Schafer, you know what everyone says about you guys, right?" When the woman raised one brow in an expectant expression, Yang grinned and said, "There's no one _butter_."

Bursting into laughter, Miss Schafer waved Yang down the line while taking the tray of the student behind them. Grinning at the success of her joke, she followed Blake to one of the checkout lines.

"Well you have them eating out of the palm of your hand," Blake commented bemusedly after they paid for their food and walked into the general lunchroom.

"We have the best lunch ladies! They're really nice. Plus, they don't make the food, so they don't care if we complain about how bad it is."

While Yang spoke, she wove her way through the long tables to the one where she usually sat. Half of the seats were empty today since her fellow lunchmates were otherwise occupied, and a group of boys sat at the other end, laughing loudly about something. When Yang picked a seat and set her tray down, Blake sat across from her and looked around.

"Do you usually eat alone?"

"Naw...Pyrrha has a track thing, and Ruby followed Weiss to the library."

"Why is Weiss in the library?"

"She's studying."

"Studying at lunch?" Blake asked, raising her brow in surprise. "Wow...she's dedicated."

At first, Yang thought Blake was joking. But she'd said that with a genuine amount of surprise - as if it was completely unexpected for someone to spend their lunch break in the library.

"But...isn't that what you did yesterday?" Yang prodded.

"Studying at lunch?" Blake asked before laughing and shaking her head. "No, the principal gave me some last minute forms to fill out for my transfer. I figured I'd finish them at lunch while checking out the library."

"Ohh…"

That answer made a lot of sense, but now…

Realizing what a monster their misconception had created, Yang leaned back in her seat and shook her head.

"Do you think you could mention that to Weiss somehow? Like slip it into a conversation or something? Otherwise, she's going to kill herself studying this year."

Eyes sparkling with humor, Blake nodded. "Sure, I can try to bring it up."

"Thank you," Yang replied in relief. She loved giving Weiss a hard time about studying too hard, but the girl would work herself to the edge of a breakdown if someone wasn't around to stop her. Plus, Yang liked eating lunch with Ruby. And, unfortunately, it looked like without Weiss there would be no Ruby. She had no idea when the two of them became a package deal...

Looking down at her tray, Blake moved some food around before glancing back up.

"She's that competitive?

"Yes," Yang answered with a scoff. "Why do you think her only friends are athletes?"

"Ah...she likes to be the smartest in the room?"

"Exactly. And we're the only ones dumb enough to be her friends." Yang made the joke at her own expense and waited for Blake to laugh before answering truthfully. "She wants to be the smartest in the school. That's why she's worried about you taking her spot at the top of the class or, god forbid, she'll have to share."

"She wouldn't even want a tie?"

Hearing the surprise in Blake's voice, Yang shook her head.

"There can only be _one_ number one," she said in a playfully serious tone before smiling.

"Well...fortunately for her, that wasn't my goal in coming here."

Furrowing her brow, Yang finished a bite of spaghetti before asking, "What was your goal?"

It seemed like a pretty harmless question, but Blake held Yang's gaze for a long time before finally smiling.

"Vale High is more prestigious than Menagerie. Graduating here will look better when applying to universities."

"That makes sense," Yang agreed with a nod. "I've heard Menagerie is nothing to slouch about though."

Glancing down at her tray, Blake shrugged.

"It was a great school, but I was looking for...something different."

"Like what?"

Again, Blake held Yang's eyes for a moment before answering the question.

"A different environment, maybe. Or a different challenge. Different people..."

When Blake's words trailed off, Yang took several more bites to eat while thinking about the response. Most of the new students she'd met over the past three years had been forced to change schools because their parents moved or something like that. Sophomore year, a couple of newbies were accepted late and jumped on the chance to switch schools, but other than that...why change schools senior year? Especially when Menagerie was close to Vale High in terms of academics?

A different environment...different people...maybe the students weren't very nice? Or Blake hadn't felt welcome?

Well, whatever it was, it sure wasn't going to happen here. Not on Yang's watch!

"Were you first in your class over there?" she asked as a way to change the topic.

"Yes."

"Any crazy competitive girls?"

Chuckling, Blake shook her head. "There are people like that everywhere, I think."

"Yeah, too bad. Hopefully Weiss cools her jets though..." Yang muttered, glancing around the cafeteria in case Weiss had slipped in just to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"It's ok if she doesn't; I don't care if I end up first or second. That's not much difference in the eyes of admissions, so it really doesn't matter which it ends up being."

"It sounds like you get to decide who wins," Yang replied with a laugh, knowing that the comment would've driven Weiss up the wall. Now it was a shame she wasn't eavesdropping...

"Well, I do, in a way," Blake replied with a thoughtful expression. "Weiss and I are tied right now, so I can only lose if I don't get perfect grades. That's within my control. And there's only one scenario I can think of that would affect my grades that much."

"What's that?" Yang asked, leaning forward in interest.

For a second, it looked like Blake might not want to answer, but then she smiled.

"If I fall in love."

Yang's cheeks immediately flushed while her heart jumped into her throat - all while Blake watched with a half smile, half laugh tugging at her lips.

But that was _not_ the answer Yang had expected. Like at all.

"Is there...did you meet someone?" she sputtered, her mind still reeling from the response.

Jealousy seeped through her chest while she tried to think of who Blake could've met on the first day of school. Who would have such a big impact? Who frequented the upper-level classes? Besides Weiss?

Thankfully, Blake shook her head 'no' - saving Yang from running through the entire class roster to find the culprit.

"I'm only hypothesizing," Blake explained. "I don't even know if that would affect my grades."

"Ah, well, I mean, I guess in the movies it does, right?" Yang suggested with a little laugh. "They get all lovey-dovey and then homework is the last thing on their minds."

When Blake chuckled and went back to eating, Yang did the same while trying to convince her blush to fade away. Thinking about Blake being in love only made her cheeks hotter though.

What would Blake be like in love? Would she start slacking on homework? Skipping class?

Why was Yang thinking about this so much?

A soft clatter with accompanying motion suddenly jerked her out of her thoughts. Turning to the side, she found Ruby sinking into the seat beside her.

"Hey! What're you doing here?"

"Weiss kicked me out!" Ruby whined. "Said I was too distracting."

Chuckling at Ruby's pout, Yang reached over and patted her shoulder in consolation. It was only then that Yang noticed the inquisitive look coming from across the table and realized that she was being a bit rude.

"Oh, hey, Blake, this is my little sister, Ruby," she said while pointing to Ruby. "Ruby, this is Blake. She just transferred from Menagerie. We have homeroom together."

"Hey!" Ruby replied with a beaming smile. "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too," Blake said, dipping her head in greeting.

Ruby had already turned back to Yang when the name finally registered, and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, looking back across the table. " _You're_ Blake? The new girl, right? The super smart one? What're you doing here? Why aren't you studying?"

While Blake's eyes sparkled at the rapid questions, Yang laughed and shook her head.

"She doesn't study during lunch," Yang explained while Blake nodded in agreement. "She's not neurotic like Weiss."

"But...what?" After briefly looking as confused as Yang initially felt, Ruby finally accepted the knowledge with a sigh. "Can you tell her that or something? She kept muttering about how she can't let anyone take her spot - I don't think it's healthy!"

"I'll let her know," Blake agreed once again. "Although if she's coming back to the lunchroom, I doubt she'll want me to sit here anymore."

"She'll deal with it," Yang immediately said. "It'll be good for her. Maybe she'll finally learn some humility."

"It'll be bad for us though!" Ruby piped in. "We're _way_ not smart enough to hold a conversation with both of you."

"I guess we could talk about rocks or something," Yang suggested, bumping shoulders with Ruby while she giggled.

"Igneous? Sedimentary? Metamorphic?" Blake asked with a sly grin, sending Yang a small wink that made her jaw drop in shock.

"Oh cool! You speak another language?" Ruby asked so seriously that Yang burst out laughing.

"I _think_ those are different types of rocks," she told Ruby, whose eyes widened in surprise. "But I'm not even sure, so you're probably right that this won't be good for us."

After Ruby laughed at her mistake, she shrugged and stole the last chunk of Yang's garlic bread. "Eh. We normally look dumb anyway. That's why we have smart friends - to balance it out!"

A loud crash at the other end of the table caught their startled attention, and they were just in time to see a boy leap out of his seat while his water splashed all over him and onto the floor. While he held his hands up in the air and looked miffed about what just happened, his friends roared with laughter and pointed at his blue shirt now splattered with dark wet spots.

Grabbing the napkins off her tray, Yang tossed them over to the boy - who sent her a grateful look while reaching out to take them.

"Tie-dye is so in right now," she added, nodding to his speckled shirt.

"I'll get more napkins!" Ruby offered, hopping up from the table and skipping away. She was back in a flash with an entire stack of napkins, half of which she handed to the boy before using the other half to mop up some of the water herself. With their laughter quickly wearing off, the rest of the boy's friends grabbed their napkins and reached over to help.

By the time the bell announced their next classes would start soon, a giant pile of soggy napkins sat on water boy's tray, but the table and floor were spill free.

Graciously accepting the thanks directed her way, Ruby raced over to grab her empty tray from beside Yang. "See you after school!" she called out with a wave before hurrying out of the room, dropping her tray by one of the cafeteria's exits before disappearing into the hall.

"Always something going on around here," Yang commented while standing up and grabbing her tray.

"Your sister is really kind."

Blake's compliment made Yang beam with pride.

"She's got a heart of gold! I'd like to think she takes after me, but she's way nicer than I am. Funnier, too."

"I should rephrase that. You're _both_ really kind."

Blushing at the compliment, Yang couldn't come up with anything to say in response. 'And you're really beautiful' might be a little weird and inappropriate under the circumstances, but she appreciated that Blake thought of her as a kind person. She tried to be nice as often as she could. Sometimes people tested her patience, but overall she tried to be a good person.

"So...where are you off to next?" she asked instead of responding to that comment.

"Advanced physics. You?"

"Eh...something less than advanced physics," Yang replied while they threw away their trash and left their empty trays on top of the garbage can. "I'm going to economics. Because nothing says 'naptime' better than econ."

Unfortunately, they were headed in separate directions for their next classes, so Yang took a step away from Blake and smiled.

"But I'll see you later?"

Only after receiving a nod did Yang reluctantly turn away, wishing today more than any other day that lunch hadn't ended.

Regretfully walking towards her next class, she hadn't made it more than a few steps before noticing a group of boys laughing at a girl who'd just tripped and dropped her books on the floor. None of them lifted a finger to help while she hurriedly scooped everything up and rushed away with her head down.

It looked like Yang had a little detour to make before heading to class. Just a small one - this should be quick.

Sauntering over to the group, she found that they were young - most likely freshmen. Due to her...experience...with this type of conversation, it normally took about two seconds to figure out how it was going to go - all based on whether they looked at her with disdain or interest.

Considering her outfit was on fire today, they were interested.

"Hey boys," she said, pulling out one of her most flirtatious grins for them. "You weren't just laughing at that poor girl, were you?"

Three of them immediately shook their heads 'no' while the fourth numbly nodded until one of his friends elbowed him in the side. Shaking her head in shame, she made a 'tsk'ing sound and frowned.

"Such a shame…" she lamented, watching them hang on her every word. "It's _so_ hard to find a guy who knows how to treat a girl these days..."

"I know how to treat a girl!" one of them offered while the other three nodded. Satisfied with the quick response, she smiled.

"I'd love for you to prove that to me," she said. "Maybe you can be nicer to the other girls in your classes?"

"Yeah!"

"Totally."

When they nodded their enthusiastic agreements, she winked and started walking away.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you."

She made the comment airily, making sure to keep her threatening tone at bay. These boys were harmless, but if she could convince them to behave a little better for just a few days, she'd be happy.

Feeling eyes upon her while she headed off, she turned and found Blake still watching her - likely having witnessed the entire interaction. Yang instantly blushed, knowing that it _probably_ looked like she was heavily flirting with a group of boys much younger than her. But Blake just smiled - again, that little smile that seemed far more pleased with the situation than she ought to be. She then turned and walked down the other hallway to her next class, and Yang finally did the same.

It was strange to have someone watching her the way Blake did. Sure, people _looked_ at her all the time and always seemed to notice what she was doing, but with Blake it felt...different. Like she wasn't interested in knowing what was cool or what was popular, but she was interested in what Yang was doing and what made her tick.

The observation wasn't unwelcome. If anything, it only made Yang want to know more about Blake in return. If only things like classes wouldn't keep getting in the way...


	6. Chapter 6

"Pyrrhaaaa Nikosssss!" Yang called out, jogging to catch up with Pyrrha before they ducked into the locker room together. "How're you this _fine_ afternoon?"

"Not much has changed since we saw each other last," Pyrrha replied while setting her bag on a wooden bench and pulling out her track clothes and shoes. Attempting to _coolly_ toss her gym bag next to Pyrrha's, Yang failed miserably and dove forward to catch it before it fell to the floor.

"Plenty has changed! Like maybe _now_ you're ready to tell me how lunch with Jaune went?"

Grinning when Pyrrha blushed yet again, Yang took off her school shoes and threw them into an empty locker.

"Like I said during class, lunch was just fine. Thank you for asking."

"That's such a lie!" Yang said, making Pyrrha blush even deeper. " _Something_ happened, and you're not telling me! Do I need to remind you that we're best friends and that means we tell each other _everything_?"

"Oh really? Then what's going on with you and the new girl?"

"I'm being nice!" Yang exclaimed. "I think she's pretty cool and - hey! Don't change the subject!"

Yang threw her balled up shirt at Pyrrha, who easily caught it and laughed while throwing it back.

"What's with you and using your shirts as weapons instead of wearing them?"

"You got a problem?" Yang replied, arching one eyebrow as Pyrrha pulled on her track shoes.

"No, but what if a certain new student walked in right now and found you half-dressed?"

Instantly flushing at the thought, Yang pulled on her gym shirt and sent Pyrrha a glare.

"She wouldn't come in here. And _if_ she did, I would - I would..."

Imagining the scenario, Yang's cheeks grew decidedly warmer. If Blake walked in right now and caught Yang in her sports bra and _short_ shorts, she'd probably burst into flames and never be seen again.

"I'd be totally fine with it!" she lied, only succeeding in making Pyrrha laugh.

"Hurry up. You don't want to be late, do you?"

Grumbling under her breath, Yang finished changing at lightning speed before following Pyrrha out of the locker room.

"Dammit, what about Jaune?" Yang asked again while they walked towards the double doors leading into the gym.

How did Pyrrha change the subject so fast? Normally, Yang didn't take the bait so easily!

But there was something there, she knew it. Of course, Pyrrha was too embarrassed to bring it up. It was probably something small like last time - their hands _accidentally_ brushed or some other nonsense like that. It was so cute when Pyrrha was embarrassed…but seriously! Get embarrassed over something real - like tripping and unintentionally kissing him while falling into his arms!

"You know you _have_ to tell me eventually, right?" Yang added, unwilling to let it drop.

"There's nothing to tell," Pyrrha replied, sticking to the party line like glue. "We went out to the track and worked on his starting stance. He's still having issues placing his hands correctly."

"I'm sure you have a _vested_ interest in his hand placement," Yang teased, making Pyrrha blush once again.

"Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you," Pyrrha playfully grumbled while they walked into the gymnasium.

The moment they stepped inside, Yang forgot all about teasing her friend when her eyes were drawn to the top of the bleachers. Her heart did a joyful little flip when she found that Blake was sitting there again, already reading.

Usually, Yang noticed people who weren't enjoying themselves - those were the people she liked to reach out to and give a smile or well-placed compliment. But she noticed Blake for completely different reasons. There were no signs that Blake was in need of a friend. If anything, she gave off the impression of someone highly independent and extremely comfortable with who she was. Still, Yang's eyes were drawn her way.

"Yang."

"Yeah?" she asked, tearing her eyes from Blake to find Pyrrha smirking at her. After chuckling, Pyrrha shook her head and walked away with a wave.

"Have a good practice! Don't get too distracted or you might get hurt."

Throwing one more glance towards Blake, Yang shook her head and tried to focus on practice. That'd be much easier if her mind wasn't burning with questions she'd rather ask Blake. Like what was she reading? Was she enjoying it? What brought her to the gym after school? Did she like the ambiance or was there another reason she was here? The library was also open after school, so she could always read there - it was probably _better_ to read in the library because it was quieter than the gym.

Selfishly, Yang kind of wished that Blake would join the You-Crew. Not that Yang wanted a You-Crew to begin with! But it wouldn't be _too_ bad if there was one more member…

Yang's thoughts were still elsewhere when she joined her teammates near the edge of the gym, but the punch Nora threw into her shoulder woke her up in an instant.

"Coach isn't here yet!" Nora announced. "You've gotta start practice!"

"You realize that _you_ could start practice, right?" Yang replied. When the question made Nora's eyes widen like saucers, Yang laughed and quickly counted to make sure everyone was here. Nodding when she found they were all ready, she gestured for them to follow her out to the track for their usual warm-up.

"Guess we'll get started without him," she muttered, blinking in the afternoon sun as they walked outside. The moment their feet hit the slightly-springy surface of the track, Yang set them off at a moderate pace while searching for -

"Yannngg!"

Turning to the side, Yang grinned when Ruby whizzed past their group. Once she was several paces ahead, she turned around and ran backwards in front of them.

"Hey Yang!" Ruby said with a grin, easily jogging backwards to match their forward pace.

"Hey Ruby," Yang said, her breaths coming in short huffs. Turning to the new girls, she gestured towards Ruby. "Guys, this is my sister, Ruby."

"Hello boxing team!" Ruby replied with a grand wave and friendly smile. "Welcome to the track. I'm Ruby Rose, and I'll be your tour guide today!"

After shooting a quick look over one shoulder to make sure no one was behind her, Ruby motioned towards the edge of the track.

"This is what we track folks like to call a _turn_ ," she said as they rounded one of the corners as a group.

Several of Yang's teammates chuckled at the subtle joke, but Yang shook her head and laughed at the fact that Ruby was running backwards and speaking without any difficulty. That girl sometimes - she made running look almost _too_ easy.

"This is another turn," Ruby remarked while they rounded the next one. "And that leads us to the straight! Who wants to race?"

"I do!" Nora shouted before charging forward without hesitation. Laughing, Ruby turned and chased after Nora, catching up in just a few paces before pulling ahead and running slightly sideways the rest of the way - chattering Nora's ear off all the while.

Again, Yang shook her head. Now Nora would be exhausted for the rest of their warm-up _and_ lost to Ruby once again.

By the time the rest of the team caught up at the other end of the track, Nora had stopped running and had both hands on her knees, panting for breath.

" - and if you practice the right breathing techniques, you can basically run _forever_ ," Ruby was saying before noticing the rest of them and lighting up. "Who wants to race after the next turn?" she asked, hopping back into place in front of them and looking at each of them hopefully.

"I'm sure Yang wants to," someone said - someone who was going to do _extra_ sets of whatever their worst workout was today. Turning to the side, Yang tried to figure out who'd just volunteered her but was only met with several innocent smiles.

"Yeah! Come on, Yang, let's race!"

As Ruby hopped up and down in excitement, Yang knew there was no possible way she could say 'no.' But there was also no way she could race Ruby and maintain any semblance of pride.

"Ruby!" someone shouted from the center of the field, drawing Ruby's eyes away from them. "Come on, let's get started!"

"Oh, gotta go." After shooting Yang an apologetic smile, Ruby beamed at the rest of the team. "It was nice to meet all of you!"

After receiving several labored "You too"s in reply, Ruby waved and raced away from them for her own practice.

"Saved by the bell," someone commented before several of Yang's other teammates laughed.

"Ok, who said it?" she demanded, speeding up to get a little in front of them - far enough that she could turn and point at each of them. "Whoever it was is going in the ring with me first."

They laughed at her playful annoyance, but no one claimed that 'prize.'

"And just so _everyone_ is aware," she huffed out, the effort of speaking taking far more energy from her than it took from Ruby. "I've been racing Ruby for _years_ so - ya know - don't really need to do it again."

"Because you keep losing!" Nora remarked, having finally caught back up to the group.

"I just...haven't won yet..." Yang said, smiling when her teammates laughed.

The last time she could remember beating Ruby in a footrace, they were in middle school and Yang still had an advantage in size. The second Ruby started growing...well, that was the end of Yang's dominance in their foot races to the mailbox and back.

After reaching the end of their warm-up jog, Yang led them back inside and slowed to a stop when they were in their corner of the gym. Once they stopped, she gave the new girls a quick once-over to see how they'd fared. While the rest of them had consistently worked out the past few weeks of summer, the freshmen were always forced to start from scratch - it would be a rough couple of weeks for them until they got into better condition.

They seemed to be doing ok though. Sure, they were breathing heavily, but _all_ of them were breathing heavily right now. And that was only going to get worse because today would be an intense cardio day. At least, that's what Coach Ironwood told them yesterday at the end of practice.

"Nora," Yang began to say, but Nora immediately scurried off to do what Yang was about to ask. At least, _hopefully_ that's what she was going to do…

"Just a warning," Yang said to the rest of the girls, placing her hands on her hips while waiting for her heart to slow its hammering pace. "Today's gonna be kind of rough."

Earning a few groans from the group, Yang looked over as Nora raced back to them - holding a box of jump ropes in her hands that she immediately emptied onto the gym floor in a haphazard pile.

"You could've just left them in the box, you know," Yang commented, to which Nora grinned sheepishly before tossing the empty box off to one side. "Alright, grab a rope and find some space," Yang instructed before grabbing a rope for herself and heading over to one side with Nora. "We're going to start with sets of thirty seconds. You've all jumped rope before, I hope?"

Looking down the line, she was pleased to find that everyone nodded. At least she didn't need to teach anyone how to jump rope today. Last time that hadn't turned out so well…

Turning away from the team, she suddenly realized that the bleachers were situated almost directly behind her. That wouldn't be a problem on a typical day, but…

"Hey Nora, switch spots with me," she called across to her friend, who hopped over and took Yang's spot without question. Which was highly unusual...and a little concerning...but now Yang had a nearly unobstructed view of Blake sitting in the stands.

It was extra motivation, that's all. Although she should try not to stare too much - getting caught twice in one day might edge her further towards 'creeper' status.

"Wanna see who can go fastest?" she asked Nora, who grinned at the challenge.

"You're on!"

"Ok everyone -" Looking up at clock posted on one wall of the gym, Yang picked out the second hand and watched it slowly tick around to the start of the minute. "And...go!"

As everyone began swinging the ropes at their own pace, Yang started up her own and swung as fast as she could reasonably push herself. They had two more sets of this, so it was important to find a good middle ground between pushing themselves to get better and conserving energy so they didn't exhaust themselves before the end.

Focusing on Nora to check her speed, Yang used her peripheral vision to watch for any movement near Blake. Unfortunately, Yang's attention was drawn almost completely away when she realized how _fast_ Nora was going. She'd quickly burn out at this speed, but damn if she wasn't skipping fast right now!

Speeding up, Yang matched Nora's pace and pressed herself a little faster. Her toes barely touched the floor before she lifted them again, developing a steady rhythm of back and forth that lined up with the rapid _taptaptap_ of their ropes hitting the floor. At this frenetic pace, however, that sound was rapidly becoming secondary to the sound of their labored breathing.

Her muscles were beginning to burn when she looked up at the clock and silently rejoiced at the end of their first set.

"Time!" she called to the rest of the group. Ropes hit the ground and feet immediately came to a thankful rest while their elevated breathing filled the air. "Thirty-second break," she huffed out before turning to Nora. "What're you trying to do, Nora? Kill yourself?"

"Gotta have...quicker feet...than you!" Nora got out between deep gasps for air. Shaking her head, Yang stepped back into place and held her rope at the ready, already dreading the next couple sets. When her eyes drifted up towards the bleachers, however, Nora's gaze followed.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Nora asked, looking over her shoulder in such an obvious way that Yang cringed.

"Nothing, Nora," she quickly replied. "Now don't hurt yourself. Let's go!"

Of course Nora didn't slow down, which meant that Yang couldn't either. Speed roping hadn't been in the plans for today, but there was no way she let Nora be the fastest at practice. Pride was at stake! Plus, people told her before that it looked pretty impressive when she jumped rope as fast as possible. Not that she was trying to show off or anything, but if Blake happened to glance down, Yang didn't want to be caught looking like some lumbering blonde.

Not that Blake seemed to be interested in watching their practice at all. At least, not that Yang could tell. Why was that so disappointing? Other people were watching - the You-Crew was here in force - but whenever Yang shot a glance up into the stands, Blake was reading her book.

Meanwhile, sweat was starting to pour as Yang flipped the rope around her feet at a pace she'd regret tomorrow. But good boxers needed light and quick feet, and using the rope was one of the best ways to train. Maybe she was trying a _little_ hard, but pushing hard was the only way to get better!

"Time!" she called out, dropping her rope on the ground in relief. "Go ahead and get some water."

While everyone searched for their water, Yang found her bottle and took a big drink before wiping the sweat from her brow. Two sets in, and they were already feeling it.

"How're you feeling?" she directed towards one of the newcomers. The girl was sucking in big gasps of air but managed to smile and flash a thumbs up in return.

"Don't worry, it gets easier," Yang replied, putting her hands on her hips and taking deep breaths that disproved her words. "Kinda," she added with a grin.

The last set was going to be hard. They could always skip it since Coach wasn't here, but what would he suggest if he _was_ here?

That question was easy to answer - he'd always pick the most painful option. One sprint or two? Three rounds or four? Whatever was hardest - go with that.

In the midst of making a decision, Yang found herself staring up into the stands at her new favorite spot. And Blake _still_ wasn't looking down here. It must be a really good book to hold someone's attention for so long...Yang had never read a book that interesting.

"I wonder what she's reading…" she mused while popping the top back on her water bottle and tossing it on the floor.

"Huh?" Nora asked, again looking over her shoulder to follow Yang's gaze. "You mean the new girl? Why don't you ask?"

"Because we're practicing right now," Yang answered easily.

"We don't mind waiting. Oh! Are you too scared to ask?"

"What? Of course not -"

"I can do it for you!"

"Wait - Nora!"

She reached out and tried to grab Nora's arm, but she was too late - Nora had already dropped her water bottle on the ground and was skipping over to the bleachers and up the stairs. The only thing Yang could do was watch in horror while Nora waved her hand in front of Blake's face to get her startled attention.

Gesturing her hands while speaking, Nora pointed to the book before turning and pointing directly to Yang. Immediately blushing, Yang awkwardly waved when Blake met her eyes. Blake gave her a little wave in return before returning her attention to Nora, at which point Yang promptly slapped herself on the forehead.

 _This_ was why she should keep some things to herself. As in, never, ever say them out loud. Especially not at practice. Or anywhere that was within earshot of Nora Valkyrie. The girl had no filter. She could be saying _anything_ to Blake right now - talking about the weather, talking about school, or straight up saying 'oh yeah, Yang's been staring at you but is too scared to come up here and talk. By the way, did you know that I have a pet unicorn and am using a stolen identity?'

Which wasn't true! The part about Yang being too scared to talk, at least. She was more than willing to talk - she'd actually _love_ to talk - but they were in the middle of practice right now! Although practice had kind of stalled because Yang was more invested in making sure Nora didn't do something ridiculous than in running another drill.

Thankfully, besides being mortally embarrassing, it _appeared_ as if the two were having a pretty regular conversation. At least, as normal as a conversation could be when it included Nora. There were no cartwheels or other theatrics involved, and eventually Nora bounded down the stairs and raced over to Yang with a book clasped in one hand.

"I did it!" Nora proclaimed, waving the book for Yang to see.

"What're you doing with that?"

"What? She said I could take it," Nora answered proudly, beaming like she'd just pulled off the heist of the century.

"I don't think she meant you could _have_ it."

"How do you know?"

Snatching the book out of Nora's hands, Yang looked at the cover before flipping it over.

"This is a library book!" she exclaimed when she found the barcodes on the back. The discovery only made Nora pout like Yang just ruined her bounty. "What're you even going to do with it, Nora?"

"Read it!" Nora retorted before dissolving into giggles and shaking her head. "But probably not..."

Shaking her head, Yang didn't return the book to Nora, knowing that if she did Nora might never let go of it again.

"Start everyone on the next set, will you?"

"What's next?" Nora asked curiously, earning herself a look of consternation.

"What's - Nora, you know exactly what's next! How many times have we done this same set?"

Shrugging, Nora grinned and picked up her jump rope.

Trusting that Nora could handle practice for a few minutes, Yang jogged over to the bleachers with the book in her hands. Taking the steps two at a time, she discovered that it was really easy to tell which students stared at her and which went about their afternoons without pause. The You-Crew members sat up straighter and whispered excitedly amongst themselves at her presence in the stands. Her 'fans' as Pyrrha called them, but Yang only had eyes for Blake.

Racing all the way to the top level and over to the corner, Yang stopped when she was standing right beside Blake.

"Hey," Yang said, the greeting making Blake look up from her notebook and set her pen in the middle of the pages.

"Hey."

Even when Blake wasn't smiling, her eyes were. It was such a pleasant expression that, for a brief second, Yang completely forgot why she came up here. It wasn't until Blake's gaze drifted to Yang's hands that she remembered the book.

"I'm sorry Nora took this from you," she apologized while handing it over.

"I actually gave it to her," Blake replied, taking the book from Yang's hands and slipping it into the bag at her feet. "But I was hoping you'd bring it back."

Filled with the unmistakable feeling that she'd somehow been tricked again, Yang still blushed at the honest answer and took a step back when Blake stood up.

"I have a report to write on one of the chapters tonight," Blake added with a slowly-building grin while slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Looked like you were hard at work down there."

So she _had_ been watching. That bit of knowledge made Yang a lot happier than it probably should, but she liked the thought that Blake was at least a _little_ curious about what Yang was up to. It was nice to know that killing herself over the ropes hadn't been for nothing.

Glancing at practice, Yang found Nora chatting with the group of girls rather than running through the next set. Oh well, they'd just make up for it later on...

While turning away from the gym floor, Yang happened to glance down and notice that her shirt was drenched in sweat - the unfortunate result of trying to show off. Attractive. Real attractive. Taking a step away from Blake, she chuckled nervously and prayed that she didn't smell horrible. Because sweat always smelled like roses, right? Maybe if she was Ruby...

"Uh, yeah, we egg each other on most of the time."

When Blake took a step forward, Yang moved back to match, hoping to maintain a smell-free distance between them. They kept up the same little dance as Blake made her way to the stairs, where Yang finally moved off to the side and settled into place beside Blake while they walked to the gym floor.

"How often do you do this type of workout?" Blake asked curiously.

"The ropes?" Yang asked in return, earning a soft "mhmm" as a reply. "Uh, usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but we're off schedule because of the short first week of school. We'll get back on track Monday."

"What do you normally do the other days then?"

"We'll work on moves and sparring," Yang explained as they reached the gym floor, internally thrilled by the interest Blake was showing in their practices. "Those days are more fun because there's a ton of action going on. But we can't do that every day because the sparring kicks our butts."

"Sounds like it's very physically demanding."

"It kind of is. Contrary to popular belief, it's not all hitting each other!" When Yang chuckled, Blake turned towards her and smiled.

"So that's how you stay in such great shape?"

Immediately flustered by the unexpected compliment, Yang ran one hand through her hair.

"I mean, yeah, I guess."

"I can certainly see how you earned your nickname," Blake added casually, not at all miffed by saying that Yang was in great shape.

"What nickname?"

Momentarily pausing, Blake turned and smiled at Yang, clearly pleased that she was the one who got to pass along this bit of information.

"The Blonde Beauty of Vale High."

Speechless, Yang stared in dismay while Blake smiled back at her. Blonde Beauty? Who the heck was calling her that?

"Fitting, isn't it?"

"What? N-no!" Yang finally stammered, waving her hands in front of her. " _Who_ calls me that?"

"Everyone," Blake replied, looking a little confused by Yang's reaction. "I've already heard it several times since I've been here. And I heard at my old school too."

"Are you kidding?" Yang asked, walking slightly in front of Blake so she could turn and meet Blake's eyes. "You are, aren't you? You're playing another joke on me - like the prince thing!"

When Blake laughed, Yang's grin widened.

"No, I'm being very serious...this time."

There was no reason to believe that Blake was making this up, but Yang still felt her jaw drop in disbelief. Blonde Beauty of Vale High? How had she never heard that before? Was it something everyone was calling her behind her back, and no one bothered to let her know? What the hell, Pyrrha!

"At least it's flattering?"

The hopeful question made Blake laugh, which was honestly one of the most amazing sounds Yang could think of.

"Very flattering."

Glancing at Blake out of the corner of her eye, Yang tried to figure out if Blake was agreeing with the nickname or merely passing along the information. She'd _love_ it if Blake thought she was beautiful, but it was impossible to tell what was going on behind those amber eyes.

"Do _you_ have a nickname I should know about?" Yang teased instead. "Like, I dunno, Witty Ninja or somethin' like that?"

Yang expected a laugh at the joke; instead, Blake briefly bit her bottom lip before answering.

"That's a story for another day," she replied with a soft smile.

"So a story for like...homeroom tomorrow?" Yang asked hopefully. She really wanted to know _now_ , not later...but tomorrow wasn't that far away.

"If you're lucky," Blake replied with another pleased smile. "Thanks for walking me out."

Looking around in surprise, Yang only then realized that she'd followed Blake all the way to the front doors. Like...all the way through the gym, down the hall, through the lobby, and to the doors. Without realizing it.

It was clear from Blake's sparkling eyes that _she'd_ realized it...and was enjoying the knowledge immensely.

"Oh, um...yeah, you're welcome!" Yang replied as if this was what she meant to do all along. "Gotta...ya know, don't want you to get lost or anything. Being new here and all."

The miserable excuse only made her blush while Blake gave her another one of those knowing smiles.

"I appreciate the chivalry," Blake commented as she walked outside, waving once before letting the door fall closed behind her.

Completely floored, Yang could do nothing but stand at the door and stare while Blake headed down the steps and towards the parking lot.

How had that just happened?

After a few more seconds of disbelief, she shook herself out of that transfixed state and took off for the gym.

"Jesus…" she muttered to herself while jogging back to the gym. "What're you thinking following her out?"

She hadn't been thinking. She was so absorbed in their conversation that she hadn't even noticed that she just abandoned her practice. Not that anyone would mind, but that had probably looked like...well, what would that even look like? She just walked out with Blake without letting anyone know where she was going or when she'd be back?

Shoving open the door to the gym, she ran across the long room and was back at practice in no time.

"Yang!" Nora called out as soon as she was without shouting distance. "You should've seen it! The You-Crew almost revolted after you walked out with another girl!"

"She's new! Didn't want her to get lost," Yang insisted before deciding it was a better idea to change the subject than continue using that lame excuse. "Did you finish the last set already?" she asked, taking note that the jump ropes were still lying on the ground.

"Nnnnope!" Nora answered without hesitation. "But I _did_ find out that one of the new girls has three cats named Eenie, Meenie, and Miny!"

"What about Mo?" Yang asked distractedly, only paying full attention when Nora burst into laughter.

"Her mom didn't want no mo!" Nora said before dissolving into giggles. When a couple of the other girls laughed, Yang couldn't help but join in.

"Ok, you're forgiven because you had a good joke to tell," Yang finally said, shaking her head before addressing the rest of the team. "We'll skip the last set today, but be back at it Monday."

As everyone nodded their agreement, Coach Ironwood stepped through the doors and strode over to them. Nudging Nora in the side to get her attention, Yang gestured towards the ropes on the floor. Working together, the two of them quickly gathered all of the jump ropes and tossed them into the box as their coach joined them.

"I hope everything went well," he stated without bothering to wait for a breakdown of how their conditioning had gone. "Let's get started. Pair up."

Grinning, Yang lightly tapped one of the new girls on the shoulder to grab her as a partner for the first drill. The real fun was about to start.

"Ok ladies. Here's what we're going to work on first."

Forming a circle around the tall man, everyone watched him explain the basic postures and how to best use them. Even though Yang knew all of this by now, she still loved listening to the explanations. It felt like she learned something new every time - making some tiny observation she'd never made before.

"Try the offensive and defensive postures with your partner, alternating every few minutes."

It was rudimentary for Yang, but she spent the rest of practice helping her teammates perfect their forms. What came as second nature for her was still awkward for some of them, but that's where practice and experience came in. The girls in their second or third year had already come a long way in a short period of time, and now served as a measuring stick for the newbies to go by. With enough hard work, they'd get there too.

And with even more experience, they'd get to Nora or Yang's level, which they demonstrated at the end of practice at full speed.

All-in-all, it was a rewarding end to a pretty rewarding day.

"Good job guys!" Yang called out to her teammates as they finished changing back into their non-gym clothes and left the locker room behind. "See you tomorrow!"

Her words were met by a few groans of acknowledgment and mumbled 'see ya's from the tired crew. Laughing, she threw her bag over her shoulder and headed back to the gym.

The first few days of practice were always the toughest, especially when they were getting used to being at school all day again too. It got easier! Plus, before they knew it, the season would be over and boxing would be done for the year.

Whistling a tune to herself, Yang walked across the gym floor and took a seat on the bottom level of the bleachers to wait for Ruby. The volleyball team had just finished up and was heading to the locker rooms, so the track team should be done shortly too.

"See ya, Yang."

"See ya guys!" she called back to a couple of volleyball players as they walked past her. More voices caught her attention then, drawing her eyes to the other entrance to the gymnasium, where the members of the track team were now pouring inside.

It didn't take very long for a hopping bob of brunette to separate from the crowd and head her way.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran over to the bleachers.

"What's up, Ruby?" Yang asked with a smile, standing up and cracking her back before grabbing her backpack. "Do you ever stop running?" she joked, watching Ruby shift impatiently between her feet.

"Yeah, when I have to walk with you."

Laughing at the super innocent burn about her running ability, Yang patted Ruby's shoulder and turned them away from the bleachers. "Ready to go home?" she asked at the same time.

"You betcha!"

Scanning the group of students who'd just walked inside, Yang noticed the conspicuous absence of a certain redhead who currently owed Yang a huge explanation.

"Where's Pyrrha?" she asked when she couldn't find her friend anywhere.

"She's staying late to work with Jaune."

Rolling her eyes, Yang gave up on the idea of talking to Pyrrha today and headed for the doors instead.

"She rearranges her schedule for him, doesn't she?"

"He needs a lot of help!" Ruby answered, shoving her shoulder into the gym door and leading them towards the front of the school. "Oh! Can we get to school early again tomorrow? I wanna meet up with one of the new track girls to help her out."

"Sure."

Even though that was the answer Ruby wanted, she looked at Yang and narrowed her eyes.

"You _never_ agree to come to school early. What's wrong with you?"

For whatever reason, the question only made Yang smile.

"New year, Ruby! New me."

Ruby shook her head at the reply.

"Well can the old you come back? This one's starting to freak me out."

After walking through the doors Blake had so cleverly led Yang to just a little while earlier, she wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulders and smiled.

"You're just gonna have to get used to it, little sis."

Heading down the steps to the sidewalk that led them home, Ruby made a disgruntled 'hmmph' noise before changing the topic.

"How're the new girls?"

The question sent Yang's mind to Blake, but then she realized that Ruby was asking about her new teammates on the boxing team.

"They're doing pretty well! Still a lot to learn, but they have promise."

"Think I can beat 'em?" Ruby asked, jumping in front of Yang and holding up her fists. Laughing, Yang held up her own and threw two slow punches that Ruby easily dodged and countered.

"You'd be our best boxer if you gave up track."

Giggling at the response, Ruby fell back into step beside Yang and bumped her shoulder.

"Cuz I'm fast, right?"

"That's right!"

"But you don't want me to hit other people," Ruby added, to which Yang shook her head.

"That's my job, remember?"

"And my job's being cute!" Ruby answered with an adorable hop to match.

"You got it!" Yang responded, ruffling Ruby's hair and grinning when Ruby squirmed away.

When Yang had started her boxing lessons, she took the time to pass along some of that knowledge to Ruby. Surprisingly, Ruby was really good at it. But Yang had only taught Ruby as a precautionary measure - so she could protect herself if she needed to. If push came to...well, punch...then Ruby was supposed to let Yang do the...uh, punching...if necessary.

"Think we can convince Dad to take us out for ice cream tonight?" Ruby asked as they got closer to home.

"Did he forget a special occasion recently?"

"Prettyyyy sure he forgot my quarter birthday!" Ruby replied, grinning when Yang laughed and shook her head. "But how 'bout the beginning of school? Shouldn't we get _something_ for surviving the first two days? I mean, that's like sixteen hours of learning! Two lunches of mediocre food, getting up early, plus practices and carrying these super heavy books -"

"Ok, ok," Yang cut in before Ruby listed all of the reasons why school was such a drag. "I get it; we deserve a reward. Don't worry - I got your back."

Beaming, Ruby raised a hand for a high five - which Yang willingly gave - before flying to the front door and unlocking it. Following at a slower pace, Yang smiled to herself at how excited Ruby was for ice cream.

Their dad had the _hardest_ time saying 'no' to Ruby, and an even harder time saying 'no' if the two of them asked for something together. Unfortunately for him, they figured this out when they were in elementary school and had been using the knowledge to their advantage ever since.

They might not play the same sport at school, but they were still on the same team in all other aspects of their lives. As far as Yang was concerned, whether it was ice cream or some group of bullies, she had Ruby's back no matter what - and she knew Ruby had hers in return.

In this case, it meant they were getting ice cream tonight. And Yang couldn't think of a sweeter way to end a pretty awesome day.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ready?" Ruby asked, holding onto the straps of her backpack.

"You bet!"

Even though Yang _was_ ready, and even though she was excited to go to school, she immediately yawned after answering the question. This whole 'getting up early' thing was kind of exhausting. Probably didn't help that they were out late last night getting ice cream...

"Daaaad! We're leaving!" Ruby yelled into the house while the two of them pulled on their shoes near the front door.

"And you're trying to escape without saying goodbye?" was shouted back to them.

"If we were, wouldn't we just run outside without saying anything?" Yang asked, stomping her left shoe onto her foot and standing up as their dad appeared in the entryway.

"You'd think," he replied before giving Ruby a hug and quick kiss on the head "But I didn't raise you to be that smart."

When Ruby giggled, Yang rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for dooming us to stupidity, Dad," she teased, reaching out to give him a hug. He gave her an extra tight squeeze this morning before kissing the top of her head and letting go.

"You're welcome, honey. Don't say I never did anything for you!"

Laughing at the joke, Ruby and Yang ran out the door while waving behind them. Their dad waved back to them as they reached the sidewalk, then headed inside and closed the door behind him.

"Thanks for getting ready early!" Ruby said as they walked the familiar path to school.

"No problem. Happy to do it!"

Even though Yang's response was genuine, Ruby immediately frowned.

"You're being weird. And don't say the 'new year, new me' thing again!"

Smiling to herself, Yang made a motion of zipping her lips and throwing the key at Ruby, who caught it with one hand before tossing it into the nearest garbage can.

"School's gonna be about fifty percent quieter now," Ruby teased before squealing and hopping off the sidewalk when Yang tried to tickle her sides.

"Why? You going home?" Yang retorted before sticking her tongue out.

"Hey! My teachers never put 'talks too much' on my report card!"

"Yes, but what _do_ they put on your report card?" Yang asked, grinning when Ruby blushed at the memory.

"'Trips a lot.' But that was obviously a joke!"

"Uh huh..."

Gently bumping shoulders with Ruby, Yang let the joke drop when Vale High came into view.

"School looks strange this early," she remarked while they neared the sleepy building. The parking lot wasn't overflowing with cars. The sidewalks weren't crammed with students. The lights were on in only half of the classrooms. Was it actually the weekend and no one bothered to tell them?

Couldn't be, because a few other students trickled in here and there, and a couple of cars headed towards the parking lot while a pair of teachers walked into the building ahead of them. Thankfully, the two of them weren't the _first_ ones here, but they certainly weren't racing in last like they used to.

Oh how the times had changed.

"I gotta go to the track," Ruby said as soon as they were inside. "See you at lunch?"

"You bet. Have a good day!" Yang called after Ruby as she hurried away at what could only be described as a run-walk. It was enough of a walk that she wouldn't get in trouble for running in the hall, but it was enough of a run that she was moving faster than anyone else.

Standing in the relatively-empty lobby, Yang watched a handful of other students rush towards the classrooms.

Were there things to do in the morning other than talking to friends, hanging out in the hall, or going to homeroom early to talk to the transfer student?

She doubted anyone but herself was doing that last one...

Gliding to her locker on autopilot, she left her gym clothes inside and picked out the books and supplies she'd need for the morning. Once prepared for the day, she rushed to her homeroom and literally crossed her fingers before opening the door.

And bless the stars was she lucky this morning! She half expected to be the first one here, but instead of finding an empty classroom, she found an _almost_ empty classroom save for one person sitting at their desk. Doing what else, but reading again.

Grinning at the sight, Yang didn't hesitate in pulling over the extra chair and sitting down on the other side of Blake's desk.

"Good morning!"

Her smile was impossible to tone down to a moderate level right now. It was a _little_ early to be beaming like she just ate a piece of the sun, but she was excited for the chance to talk to Blake again! Plus, Blake also seemed pretty pleased by Yang's sudden presence. At least, that's what Yang hoped that small smile meant.

"Good morning, Yang," Blake replied, again closing her book and setting it on the side of her desk. "You're here early."

"Ruby had a thing this morning, but yeah! I mean, I try to get here early. Sometimes." Quickly carrying on so she wouldn't have to elaborate, Yang pointed out, "But you're here early too! Any particular reason? Other than that's what the smart kids do?"

"Is coming to school early a requirement for being smart?" Blake asked in return, one brow arched in amusement.

"I dunno, is it? I only know that most of the smart kids are here first. I thought there was some unspoken rule or something."

Blake shook her head but smiled at Yang's observation.

"There isn't a manual, you know."

"Too bad...I'd love to swipe a copy. But I probably wouldn't understand it!"

"I wouldn't sell yourself so short."

"Oh, I don't. I lie about my height all the time."

When Blake laughed at the joke, her eyes sparkled happily at the same time. Yang didn't know what it was, but she _really_ liked making Blake laugh. It was more rewarding than making anyone else laugh, and it made all these little butterflies flutter in her stomach...

"So have you considered joining a club sport?" Yang asked merely for the sake of making conversation.

"You mean like boxing?"

"That's one option," she replied with a cheerful laugh, hardly glancing away when a few other students walked into the classroom. "Obviously that's the _best_ one, but there are plenty of other teams that are always looking for new members."

"Do you have a recommendation?" Blake asked, watching Yang intently for the answer.

"Uh, well, what are you good at?"

Leaning back in her seat with a shrug, Blake failed to notice the way Yang hung onto her every word.

"I've always been more academically inclined, so I've never considered playing a sport. Besides, if I join a club, I probably won't be able to read in the gym after school anymore. And I do enjoy that...but if you have a recommendation, I'll gladly hear it."

While Blake waited for a response, Yang opened her mouth and tried to come up with a solution. She _also_ liked that Blake read in the gym after school, and she hadn't considered that another club would take that time away from them. Not that they spent that time _together_ or anything, but it was nice to have someone to look at during practice. Not in a creepy way! In a totally normal way.

What if Blake joined another team and met someone super awesome? Some really cool people went to school here, so it wasn't like that _couldn't_ happen. Then she'd probably spend all her free time hanging out with them and wouldn't watch boxing practice anymore. Maybe she'd stop coming to homeroom early, or hang out in _their_ homeroom instead.

Why was Yang so worried about this?

"Slow-motion chess," she blurted out, suffering an immediate burst of embarrassment when she realized she had no idea what she just said. But Blake laughed again, so the dumb comment was worth it.

"There's a slow-motion chess club?" Blake asked. From the way her eyes sparkled with delight, she already knew it was made-up but went along with it for Yang's sake.

"Oh yeah. They're really good too. The only problem is we haven't seen them since they started that game three years ago."

When Blake actually giggled at the response, Yang laughed too - mostly because the sound was so freaking adorable, but also because she couldn't believe some ridiculous, made-up club was the reason.

"Or, ya know, just keep doing what you're doing," she concluded. "If you want to read in the gym after school, that's totally fine with me."

"Oh really?"

When Blake raised one brow, Yang instantly knew she'd put her foot dangerously close to her mouth.

"Y-yeah! I mean, not that you need my permission or anything," she rambled while searching for an exit to the current line of conversation. "Anyone's allowed to sit in the gym, but uh...will you eat lunch with us today?"

Luckily, the question removed the teasing expression from Blake's face and replaced it with a much more thoughtful one.

"You mean…"

"Me, Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss?" Yang clarified, although Blake's hesitation seemed to grow upon hearing the last name on the list.

"I'd like to, but I don't want to make it uncomfortable..."

"Naw - it'll be fine! But if you feel uncomfortable, we can always sit somewhere else."

"'We?'"

"You and me! I don't mind ditching my sister or best friend to have lunch with you. Besides, Pyrrha ditches me all the time for 'track stuff.'"

Leaning back in her seat, Yang made sure to say that last part extra loudly while smirking at Pyrrha, who'd just walked through the door.

"Oh hush. Like you've missed me one bit," Pyrrha replied.

"I've missed you greatly, Pyrrha!" Yang said, twisting in her seat while Pyrrha walked behind her. "So much! It's like a giant piece of my heart is missing when you're not around!"

Shaking her head and laughing, Pyrrha didn't respond while making her way through the rows of seats to the back of the class.

While Pyrrha unzipped her bag to pull out supplies for class, Yang turned back to Blake with a grin. At least, she _thought_ she turned back to Blake but instead got a face full of…

"Neptune, what the -?"

"For you, my lady," Neptune said, waving the cards in her face until she finally caved and snatched them out of his hand. After shooting a glance at Blake - who was curious, to say the least - Yang tried to figure out what the heck she was holding.

"Invitations?" she asked while flipping through the small deck.

"Official invitations to all of this year's dances," he explained with a smug smile.

"What - how do you even know when the dances are?" she asked in dismay, only to be met by a pleased grin.

"I'm on the planning committee." Standing tall, he puffed out his chest at the admission. He was _so proud_ of the accomplishment, Yang very nearly laughed.

"You're on the planning committee? _Please_ tell me you didn't join just to pull this." When Yang held up the invitations, Neptune's grin widened.

"Yup! Well, that and there aren't any other boys on the committee, but a bunch of cute girls. I get to do all the lifting and stuff."

This time Yang _did_ laugh when he flexed his relatively-nonexistent muscles.

"Good for you! I'm sure they could use your help. But, uh, for these, I'm going to say -"

"Nuh uh uh," Neptune cut her off mid-sentence. "You can't reply yes _or_ no before the dates on the invitations."

Confused, Yang read the very fine print at the bottom of the cards and found that there were specific "reply only _after_ " dates listed.

"I shall patiently await your answers." Bowing, Neptune shot Yang a wink before heading back to his seat to join his friends - who were all laughing at what he'd just done. Amazed and slightly amused by his most recent ploy, Yang stared after him before shaking her head and turning her full attention back to Blake.

"Sorry about that…"

"It's ok. You must get that a lot," Blake remarked, watching Neptune accept several pats on the back as congratulations for his...courage or something.

"Eh, not really." Tossing the invitations inside one of her notebooks, Yang shoved them into her backpack to be forgotten for now. "Mostly just from him."

"Are you saying he's the only one after your heart right now?"

As soon as Blake asked the question, Yang froze and stared - unsure of how to respond to a question like that.

"Uh...I mean...I guess so?" she got out, which only made Blake smile.

"I'm sure you're just not aware of the others," Blake replied, her eyes briefly meeting Yang's before moving away. "Like those girls watching your practice after school. I think any of them would be after you in a heartbeat."

"But they don't even talk to me!" Yang protested. "One of the requirements should be having at least _one_ conversation with me."

"Noted," Blake said, her playful smile making Yang's heart do a little flip in her chest.

Unfortunately, Yang didn't have the opportunity to respond because Mr. Oobleck shot through the door at that moment. His feet might as well be on fire from how fast he walked across the room before dumping a stack of papers onto the desk, where some of them promptly fell off and scattered across the floor.

"Guess class is about to start," Yang mumbled as Penny jumped up to help pick up the papers. "I'll talk to you later?"

When Blake nodded, Yang put the extra chair back in its place and helped Penny gather the rest of the papers. Once they were returned to the top of the pile - in no particular order - Yang gave Blake a parting smile before heading to the other side of the room. Reaching her desk, she sat down with a huff and flipped open her notebook, disappointed that school was already starting.

"Is this going to be a new habit of yours?" Pyrrha whispered after Yang sat down. "It's quite a change from you running in _after_ class starts."

"New year, Pyrrha," Yang whispered back, sticking with the company line she used with Ruby yesterday. "New me."

Even though it sounded good, the phrase wasn't entirely true. She didn't _feel_ like a new person, but she was definitely feeling some new emotions she'd never experienced before. The idea that one person could get her out of bed and to school on time was utterly foreign to her. These were uncharted waters, for sure...

"Good morning, students!" Mr. Oobleck shouted to them before straightening his glasses and 'fixing' his tie by making it even more crooked. "A few announcements today -"

Picking up a pen like she might write something down, Yang instead tapped the tip against her blank notebook while staring at Blake.

How did Blake find the attention to listen to everything Mr. Oobleck said? Did she even understand what he was saying? Sometimes, he spoke so fast it was like listening to a movie on fast forward. At least, that's how Yang felt about it.

Or maybe...maybe Blake _didn't_ pay attention. Maybe she only _pretended_ to pay attention, and she was so good at it that no one could tell the difference. That was something Yang sucked at. She couldn't pretend to be interested. Either she was or she wasn't. Like with Neptune - sorry, but not interested. But with other people…

Jumping when the bell rang her out of her thoughts, she looked around for a second before realizing that homeroom had ended. As everyone collected their belongings and stood up, Blake turned and caught Yang's eyes. Instantly blushing, Yang couldn't help but feel that Blake _knew_ she just spent the first fifteen minutes of school staring. Or maybe that was just her guilty conscience talking...

Most people would probably think the staring was a little weird, but Blake seemed pretty amused as she collected her belongings and left the room before Yang had even managed to get her pen and notebook back into her bag.

"What the rush?" Pyrrha asked while Yang scrambled to catch up.

"Nothin'! See ya later!" she called out, not waiting for a response as she zipped up her bag and raced out of the room.

Spotting Blake in the hall up ahead, Yang slipped between the students filling the corridor and quickly caught up to Blake's more leisurely pace. Unfortunately, a less-than-welcome guest reached Blake right before Yang did.

"Welcome to Vale High, nerd," the tall boy grumbled before purposefully bumping Blake's shoulder and knocking her neatly-stacked notebooks out of her hands. The moment they hit the floor, Yang clenched her teeth and stalked the boy down the hallway he'd ducked into.

"Cardin," she growled, pushing back against the fire building in her veins.

When he turned around and saw her, he groaned.

"Yeah, it's me," she said with a smile that wasn't at all well-intentioned. "And you know what you just did. If you do that again, I'm gonna break your nose, got it?"

Even though he scowled at her, his eyes told a different story. The two of them had gone back and forth for the past three years of school, and it was always the same thing - he acted tough but, when push came to shove, he was afraid of her.

"Whatever," he said, turning away.

Not one for being dismissed, Yang reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. Worry flashed through his eyes when she dragged his face down to meet her gaze.

"I want to hear you say it," she said, keeping her tone light and jumpy - like this was just a normal conversation between friends. "I want to hear that big, beautiful mouth of yours say the words, Cardin."

When he did nothing but stare at her for a few seconds, she gave him a little shake - and he finally growled, "I won't mess with her again" through gritted teeth.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, releasing her hold on his shirt. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

After backing safely out of her reach, he scowled.

"Someone will knock you off your high horse eventually."

"Well it sure as hell won't be you," she shot back while he skittered away. "Pansy…" she muttered under her breath before jogging back to the other hallway, reaching Blake just in time to scoop a stray pen off the ground and hand it back to her.

"Sorry about him," Yang said. "His parents paid for him to be here, so he thinks he's king of the school or something. But don't worry, he shouldn't mess with you again."

"It's ok," Blake replied calmly, brushing some dust off of her notebook before accepting her pen from Yang. "It happens. Doesn't bother me anymore."

"Well it bothers me!" Yang pressed, only now feeling her heart return to its normal pace. "It's not cool to be a jerk just because."

Straightening her shoulders and hugging her books to her chest, Blake looked into Yang's eyes and smiled.

"You like standing up for people, don't you?"

The question was unexpected given the circumstances, causing Yang to blink in surprise while trying to come up with a response.

"Uh...yeah, I guess?"

"Why?" Blake asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Uh…" Yang stalled while thinking of an answer, but that wasn't a question she'd ever thought about before. Why did she like standing up for people? She didn't know - it was just something she did. She'd done it for so long, she didn't even think about it anymore. Luckily, it was less confrontational now that she could convince people to be nice without punching them in the face. That kept her out of trouble too.

"I'm not really sure," she answered honestly, turning to follow Blake down the hall. "I started doing it because people were picking on Ruby. Once I started standing up for her, I realized other people needed someone to stand up for them too."

Unsure about the answer, she glanced at Blake to see if it was an okay response. It must have been, because Blake smiled at her warmly.

"Have you ever thought about how you could have changed someone's life? By sticking up for them?"

Yang thought about those questions with a furrowed brow.

"Honestly?" she said before shaking her head. "I haven't. I'm not trying to change anyone's life. Just trying to help."

When she gave Blake a small smile, the bell rang and students quickly emptied the hallway for the next class period. This situation was more familiar to Yang - far from her classroom when the bell had already rung. Fortunately, for the more school-oriented of the two of them, they'd reached Blake's class, so she wouldn't be late.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Yang asked, feeling a full smile return when Blake nodded. "Great! I'll see you later then!"

With another grin, Yang turned and hurried away. There was no point being late to class if she didn't _have_ to be - not when she had this whole 'super on time' record going for her.

And she slipped into her seat right as the second bell rang, preserving her streak of punctuality for the foreseeable future.

It was only when the teacher started talking that she allowed her mind to stew over what Cardin had done - to _Blake_ of all people. Blake was new here! That's probably what put her on his radar to begin with, but still - his behavior was unacceptable. It always had been.

The two of them had managed to get through three years without a major confrontation, but Yang always had this sneaky feeling that she wouldn't graduate without sending her knuckles into his nose at least once. Or maybe that was just a wish of hers…

Thankfully, Cardin's actions hadn't phased Blake one bit - which meant that he was extraordinarily lucky. If Yang sensed that Blake was even a _fraction_ of an iota upset, he'd be in for a world of hurt. But Blake brushed it off as easily as the specks of dust on her notebook. No harm, no foul. Even though Yang was fully prepared to call both harm _and_ foul, Blake had already moved past the incident.

Blinking when the classroom lights suddenly clicked off, Yang realized that they were going to watch a documentary during class. Score. Now she could daydream without worrying about being called on. Not that she normally worried about that…

And what did she have to daydream about? More like _who_ did she have to daydream about…

The documentary was probably boring, but that didn't matter much when Blake was the only thing on Yang's mind. The same could be said for Yang's next class, and her next. Maybe they should change the name of the school to 'Blake High,' because that's all she seemed capable of thinking about today.

That sounded really weird, so scratch that idea.

Something else that was pretty weird? Yang made it to lunchtime without thinking about a single school topic besides Blake. The ultimate goal had been achieved - she was now impervious to teaching.

When the lunch bell finally rang, Yang practically skipped to the cafeteria with wings on her feet. Finding Pyrrha already seated at their table - but no Blake - Yang grabbed some food before rushing over to join her friend.

"Pyrrha Nikos," she said, using her best 'demanding' voice while sitting down. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

The question and tone made Pyrrha frown in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know," Yang hemmed. "Maybe there's something _important_ that you've never mentioned to me? Like, and I'm just saying this off the top of my head, but maybe a certain _nickname_ that everyone's been calling me?"

Bursting into laughter at the question, Pyrrha waved one hand as if wiping away Yang's chagrin.

"Oh _that_ ," she said with a chuckle. "I thought you knew about that!"

"How would I know about it if people are using it behind my back?" Yang exclaimed.

"What're you guys talking about?" Ruby asked while setting her tray down, with Weiss following close behind.

"The 'Blonde Beauty of Vale High' just found out about her nickname," Pyrrha explained with a grin, the words making Weiss scoff while Ruby giggled.

"You _all_ knew about this?" Yang asked in disbelief. "And _none_ of you mentioned it?"

"I thought you knew!" Ruby replied. "I only hear it _all_ the time. I figured you did too."

What was more embarrassing...the actual nickname or the fact that it had taken Yang _three years_ to learn about it?

"You guys suck," she grumbled, earning another round of chuckles at her consternation.

But her pretend disgruntlement disappeared the instant she spotted Blake walking into the lunchroom with a group of late arrivals. Yang felt her pulse rising in anticipation of their next conversation, not knowing what it might be about but knowing she'd enjoy it regardless.

"I see you're staring again," Pyrrha commented after following Yang's gaze.

"I can't help it! She's so...confident. Nothing fazes her."

"And this just in - another public service announcement courtesy of Yang's massive crush," Pyrrha teased.

"What was that, Mrs. Arc?"

Instantly blushing, Pyrrha continued in a far more diplomatic tone, "I'm just saying...we've only been back a couple of days, but you haven't stopped talking about her."

Pyrrha was probably right. Yang's thoughts drifted to Blake a _lot_. It was that smile - like Blake knew something that she didn't. God, she loved that smile. She didn't even care that she had no idea what made Blake so amused. As long as she was the one on the receiving end of those smiles...she'd blissfully spend forever not knowing.

A disdainful huff pulled Yang out of her thoughts.

"I don't know what you could see in her," Weiss quipped, flipping her hair for good measure while Yang stared at the girl like she had three heads.

"What could I see in her? I dunno, she's _gorgeous_ to start. And incredibly smart, funny, kind, confident -"

When Pyrrha started laughing, Yang's cheeks heated up in realization.

Yup. It was a crush. Dang, that had developed quickly.

Catching sight of Blake walking over to join them, Yang straightened in her seat and waved. When Blake reached the table, however, she hesitantly set her tray across from Yang while watching Weiss to gauge her reaction.

"Um...hello."

"Hey Blake, grab a seat," Yang said, pointing to the chair Blake was already about to pull out. While Blake sat down, Yang shot Weiss a look that said she'd better be nice. It was like asking a spoiled child to share their toys in the sandbox...

"Thank you," Blake replied while sitting down.

"So Blake…" Weiss began, the tone giving away the ulterior motives attached to whatever words were coming next. "What upper-level classes did you take at Menagerie?"

"Umm...world history, biology, chemistry, literature, calculus, and statistics."

Even though the list visibly surprised her, Weiss quickly regained her composure.

"Well, I've taken all of those too!" she retorted, making Yang shake her head.

"Chill out, Weiss. Why can't you admit that you're practically the same person? Except if you strip out the intelligence, Blake is sweet and kind while you're bossy and pompous."

From the way Weiss pursed her lips, it was easy to tell that she wanted to argue. But she knew that Yang had a whole assortment of examples to draw from - many of which she probably didn't want her _sworn_ _enemy_ to know about.

"But Weiss is super sweet too!" Ruby piped in before taking a big bite of her cookie. "She's also really generous and funny!"

While Yang rolled her eyes at the typical Ruby effusiveness, she didn't fail to notice that the compliments made Weiss blush ever so slightly.

"Thank you, Ruby," Weiss whispered. And Yang expected to see a self-satisfied smile, but instead Weiss smiled at Ruby with genuine gratitude before turning back to Blake.

"Have you chosen a topic for our physics project?"

"I was thinking about exploring skyscrapers and their resistance to wind and earthquakes."

"That sounds interesting," Weiss replied, glancing away and tapping two fingers on the tabletop as if the opposite was true. "If you haven't already chosen a partner, maybe I can work with you on that?"

After shooting Yang a surprised look, Blake turned to Weiss with a smile.

"Absolutely. I'd like that."

"Great," Weiss said before turning back to her tray and picking up her food. "Can't let you get a better grade than me, after all. This way, we'll get the same grade."

Grinning across the table, Yang was both pleasantly surprised and super impressed that Weiss just did something nice and inclusive. Of course, now she refused to make eye contact and accept the acknowledgment - like she normally did whenever she did something she knew Yang would appreciate.

Which didn't happen all that often! But, understanding that Weiss was embarrassed or...something...about being a nice person, Yang didn't comment on the civil gesture. Instead, she let it slide past and changed the subject.

"So Ruby, what do you think about that new water fountain on the second floor?" she asked, knowing that _any_ question would launch Ruby into a slew of unrelated, but entertaining, tangents.

Seriously, one of Ruby's teachers _had_ to comment on her talking too. Otherwise, Yang would never live that little remark down.

"Oh my god. So I got to school the other day and I was walking around looking for my math class. They moved the math classes this year, you see," Ruby explained to Blake before continuing. "And the hallways are soooo longgg that I got thirsty just walking from one side to the other! It's like a freaking desert up there!"

"Uh huh…" Yang commented, taking a bite of her lunch and grinning at Blake.

"Have you guys ever wondered what it'd be like to live in a desert?" Ruby continued without pause, forgetting the water fountain entirely. "Like how _hot_ is it really?"

"Depends on where you are," Weiss commented absentmindedly. "Depending on the location and time of year, it can easily get into the triple digits."

Ruby stared at Weiss for several seconds before grinning.

"Why do we have a triple jump but not like...a fripple jump?"

The question made Pyrrha nearly snort out her drink in surprise.

"And _what_ exactly would a fripple jump be?" she asked after coughing into her hand.

"Four jumps!" Ruby replied before her brow creased. "Isn't that what we call four of something?"

"Yup!" Yang answered before anyone else could. "It goes double, triple, fripple, for sure."

"Thought so." When Ruby nodded at the confirmation, Yang glanced across the table and caught an amused grin from Blake and an expression of disdain from Weiss.

"I have a twin in one of my classes," Ruby continued without fail. "Not _my_ twin but like...half of a twin set. You know. I thought they always got the same schedules so they wouldn't be separated, but then I talked to him and he told me a whole bunch of cool twin things!"

Laughing while Ruby rambled on, Yang ate the rest of her lunch while throwing glances across the table every other second. Every time she looked up, she caught Blake's gaze and smiled.

It was an awesome, awesome lunch.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end...and lunch did when the bell blared obnoxiously, and students began emptying their trays and heading off to class.

"See ya guys!" Ruby said with a wave before walking off with Weiss, who was probably seconds away from explaining all the things Ruby got wrong over lunch. And, after prodding Yang towards Blake, Pyrrha walked away with a "Need to get something from my locker!" excuse.

Real smooth, Pyrrha.

But it suited Yang just fine - she and Blake emptied their trays and headed towards the spot where they'd part ways.

"So I'll see you after school?" Yang asked.

"Oh...actually, I have to go home early today," Blake explained, her expression one of regret.

"Ah." Nodding once, Yang tried not to let her disappointment show. "Then I'll see you...next week I guess."

"Yeah...sorry, my parents are dragging me to a wedding. We need to leave this afternoon."

The explanation wasn't necessary, but Yang felt better knowing that it was a family obligation keeping them apart and not Blake's decision to leave early.

"Hey, no problem. I hope you have a great time!" Yang replied with a grin. And she'd already partially turned away when Blake asked, "What about you?"

Turning back, Yang smiled.

"I'll be hanging out with Ruby. Maybe do some homework or help my dad out around the house. Depends on how motivated I'm feeling."

When Blake nodded, her eyes drifted around the rapidly-emptying room. It _felt_ like she was stalling, but then again, that was probably just Yang's wishful thinking.

"I hope you have a great time, too," she finally said, meeting Yang's eyes one last time. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Yeah, you too!"

This time Yang was able to turn and hurry towards her next class, only having a minute or so to make it there in time. Still, she threw a glance over her shoulder and caught Blake's eyes right before the girl disappeared down a separate hallway.

God, she wished that it wasn't Friday.

And that was the first time she'd ever wished that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! Just a quick announcement here - I'm moving next weekend, so there won't be a new chapter next week. I'll do my best to start up again the week after, but it's just been really stressful trying to coordinate everything plus proofreading (and writing in general).**

* * *

There was one fundamental truth about weekends - they flew by in the blink of an eye. Just when Yang started to enjoy them - _poof_ \- Monday arrived. That was _always_ how weekends worked, since the beginning of time.

Except for the past weekend. Somehow, it defied the laws of weekends by dragging its feet, kicking and screaming, into eternity. It broke the rules of life and lasted an _entire_ lifetime, and then lasted longer still.

Maybe Yang was exaggerating, but the weekend was _that_ slow! Sure, she had fun spending time with her family without being tired from school or practice. They watched a super corny romantic comedy that Dad picked out (he was such a sucker for those). She and Ruby got into an impromptu wrestling match in the backyard - that she won handily until Dad showed up to ruin the day and beat them both.

But those events were nothing more than a blip on the weekend radar. The rest of her time was spent pacing the house waiting for the weekend to end. Normally, she had no problem distracting herself with hours of TV or reading through a good magazine (or ten), but this weekend she was restless - and she was pretty sure she knew why.

The reason for her restlessness? It started with a capital 'C' and ended in 'rush.'

She wanted to see Blake, and that meant she needed to go to school, which meant she needed the weekend to end. So, of course, the two days off passed impossibly slowly. Irony was her biggest fan, apparently...

The days dragged on for so long that she _voluntarily_ did her homework just to have something to do. The idea had been to find something to keep her mind off of Blake, but it only half worked since Blake and anything related to school were linked together. Reading for history class? Yang wondered if Blake had a history class this semester. A short set of problems for math? She bet Blake was awesome at math - probably taking calculus too. Trying to find a pencil? Well, Blake needed writing utensils too. The entire weekend went like this.

Monday morning eventually arrived, but Yang wasn't celebrating just yet.

"Come _on_ , Ruby!" she shouted upstairs, shifting from one foot to the other while waiting by the front door. A few seconds later, Ruby hurried down the stairs while dragging her backpack behind her.

"Jeez, Yang, we don't need to get there way early!" Ruby whined as she grabbed a pair of shoes. Before she put them on, however, she stopped everything and covered her mouth while a yawn slipped out.

"We won't be early - we're hardly gonna make it on time!" Rushing into the kitchen, Yang gave her dad a quick kiss on the cheek while he poured his morning cup of coffee. "Bye Dad!"

"Have a good day!" he called after her, but she was already out the door and setting off down the sidewalk at a fast walk. She only made it to the house next door when she heard a door slam followed by footsteps running to catch up to her.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Ruby huffed, falling into step by Yang's side. "We used to be late all the time!"

"I want to talk to a classmate about a project," Yang fudged. It wasn't a super big lie because she _could_ talk to Blake about a project. Just...not one they were working on together.

Sighing out loud, Ruby shifted her backpack and took long strides to match Yang as they sped towards school. Although...now that Yang thought about it, Ruby's strides were a lot less strained than they usually were when she speed-walked.

When Yang abruptly stopped, Ruby flew several more steps before realizing that she was walking alone.

"What's up?" she asked.

With Ruby standing in front of her, Yang stuck out one hand and placed it on the top of Ruby's head to measure her height.

"You got taller!" Yang immediately gasped. Her hand used to be level with her eyes; now she was angling up. "You're gonna be as tall as me soon!"

Ruby gave a cute, sheepish grin at the comment.

"Yeah…" she mumbled while dragging one toe across the ground. "I thought things looked different from way up here..."

Laughing at the response, Yang patted Ruby's shoulder before turning her around to resume their walk to school.

"What happened to the little shrimp I had to lift onto the counter so we could get the cookie jar?" Yang lamented as they went, smiling when Ruby giggled at the memory.

"Remember the time we accidentally broke the lid and put it back together with tape?"

Their horrible attempt at covering up their tracks was about as successful as one might expect - meaning, not at all.

"Yes, 'we' broke that lid," she teased, nudging Ruby's shoulder. "It had _nothing_ to do with your butterfingers."

"You should've told me not to play with the butter!" Ruby wailed while Yang laughed.

When the school building came into view, Yang found that the parking lot was nearly full and only a few students rushed towards the front door. The sight was disappointing because it was familiar - because this was when they _used to_ get to school. And, being an expert at treading the line between 'on time' and 'tardy,' she knew the bell would ring any minute now.

"This is more like it," Ruby said while they hurried up the front steps. "Much more normal."

"Didn't realize you liked being late!"

Ruby's response was a light-hearted laugh as they rushed through the doors and found a mostly-empty entryway in front of them.

"I like morning runs!" she quipped before picking up her pace. "I'll see you later!"

With a wave, Ruby hurried towards her locked and left Yang to fend for herself in the halls of emptiness. While this was 'normal' for her, she still felt slightly defeated by how empty the hallways were.

She wasn't _late_ \- at least, not yet - but by the time she hurried into homeroom, the classroom was filled with students. Her eyes immediately went to Blake's desk...only to find it empty.

Fortunately, the wave of disappointment was only temporary. Blake was there - she just wasn't at her desk. Instead, she stood on the other side of the room helping Penny with what looked like schoolwork. Noticing Yang's gaze almost immediately, Blake smiled and waved before returning her attention to Penny's excited chatters.

Maybe the two of them wouldn't get to talk this morning, but Yang was happy to see someone else spend time with Penny - she could be a little weird but was sweet as could be. Plus, she _adored_ Ruby. It was physically impossible for Yang to dislike someone who liked her little sister so much. Except for Weiss. For some reason, Weiss didn't fall into that category.

Regardless of her happiness that Penny might have a new friend, Yang was bummed that she missed a chance to talk to Blake this morning. Dammit Ruby! Why had she picked today, of all days, to oversleep?

Sighing at her crappy start to the week, Yang sank into her seat and dropped her bag on the floor in defeat.

"What's bothering you?" Pyrrha asked right when Mr. Oobleck rushed into the room and everyone began finding their seats. Waving distractedly towards their teacher, Yang didn't reply as the bell rang through the room, signaling the start of class.

"Good morning, students! We have some announcements to go through today, but first - Miss Belladonna, would you please pass one of these out to everyone?" After dropping a stack of papers on Blake's desk, Mr. Oobleck whizzed back to the center of the room. "Please listen up - this is important -"

As soon as he said the magic words, Yang tuned him out and watched Blake go about her assigned task. Like everything Blake did, each step looked deliberate and purposeful. Paper, desk, next. Paper, desk, next. The task seemed simple, but she added a rhythm to it that was transfixing to watch.

When Blake reached the desk in front of Yang, however, their eyes finally met. Like clockwork, Yang felt a grin appear - a grin that Blake returned with a hint of a smile.

And then the rhythm suddenly broke. The next paper Blake dropped onto a desk without bothering to look down, opting instead to hold Yang's gaze while walking up to her desk. Instead of handing Yang the form and moving on, however, Blake came to a complete stop and - instead of setting it on top of the desk like she'd done for everyone else - held it up in the air so Yang had to reach out and take it.

"Good morning," Blake whispered, holding onto the other side of the page for a split second before finally letting go.

"Good morning!" Yang replied with an ecstatic smile - a smile that Blake returned with a more muted one of her own before moving on to the next person.

Yang's day was just made. _Especially_ when Blake didn't utter a single word to anyone else on her way around the class. Nobody got a single word, but Yang got a 'good morning.'

Absentmindedly spinning the paper in circles on her desk, Yang watched Blake head back to her seat and turn her attention to Mr. Oobleck for the rest of homeroom. Even though class continued, the grin of special treatment lingered on Yang's lips, and she was perfectly content to shoot countless glances Blake's way for the rest of the period.

Was there a reason why Blake said 'good morning' to Yang and no one else? Was it because Yang was the one going out of her way to welcome Blake to the school? Hopefully, there were other reasons too...

As soon as the bell rang, Yang shot out of her seat and shoved everything into her bag as quickly as possible.

"Apparently, I don't exist to you anymore."

Her eyes had already followed Blake to the door, but the comment made Yang turned to Pyrrha in surprise.

"Well go on - you don't want to miss her, do you?" Pyrrha teased, waving Yang away with a smile that she gladly returned before racing out of the classroom. Spotting Blake in the hall up ahead, Yang dodged around several people before falling in step by her side.

"Good morning!" Yang said, smiling out of pure happiness now that they could spend a few minutes together.

Not at all surprised by Yang's sudden appearance, Blake continued her unhurried pace without pause.

"Good morning, Yang. How was your weekend?"

"Slowwww. So slow. Happy to be back. How about you?"

"My weekend was rather slow too," Blake answered easily. "I was looking forward to coming back."

"I bet you love school, huh?" Yang teased, walking sideways for several steps so she could watch Blake's reaction. "Getting all those A's is probably pretty awesome."

Chuckling softly, Blake shook her head.

"Classes are fine, but I like coming to school - there are some great people here."

With those words out in the open, Yang could only hope that the category of 'great people' included her. It did, right? Unless Blake already made a bunch of other friends that Yang didn't know about?

"Oh, I need to stop at my locker -" Blake began to say, gesturing towards a metal locker door identical to the others surrounding it. Only it was Blake's locker and therefore better than the other.

"Sure thing."

Even though Blake hadn't expressly asked Yang to wait, she willingly leaned against the wall while Blake spun through the combination and opened the door. After pulling out two books that looked far too big to be given to high school students, Blake shut the door and smiled.

"Thanks for waiting."

"No problem."

Pushing away from the wall and briefly wondering if the gratitude was meant in a teasing way, Yang caught a familiar face in the crowd of students. Meeting Violet's eyes, Yang smiled and waved. Grinning back, Violet returned the wave before resuming her spirited discussion with another student on the way into the calculus classroom.

The sight was both relieving and uplifting - one less person Yang needed to worry about.

"Friend of yours?" Blake asked, her eyes flitting back to Yang after Violet disappeared from view.

"Acquaintance, I guess you could say," Yang answered while the two of them resumed their slow walk to Blake's first class.

"You seem to know everyone here."

"I try to get to know everyone," Yang admitted. "That way I have a good idea what's going on, you know? I can feel out the bad eggs."

As if on cue, Cardin appeared in the hallway ahead of them. After spotting Yang, however, he moved to the opposite side of the hall so he wouldn't be too close when he passed - and he refused to meet Yang's eyes as he did so.

"You haven't had any more issues with Cardin, have you?" she asked when he disappeared behind them.

"No, he gives me a wide berth - as you just saw."

"And no one else has said anything to you?"

"No one's had anything bad to say, although I wouldn't be bothered if they did."

Tilting her head at the reply, Yang gave Blake a curious look, trying to figure out what made her tick.

"You don't care what other people think about you?"

That was something Yang suspected the more time they spent together, and Blake confirmed it with a shake of her head.

"I used to care what people thought about me...but that changed when the most popular girl in school said she thought I was cool for reading." After pausing for a second, Blake shrugged and smiled. "So I guess I'm doing just fine."

"Reading _is_ cool!" Yang replied with a grin. "And you read a lot, don't you?"

"You could say that," Blake answered with a soft laugh. "People used to call me 'book girl' because I always had a book in my hand."

Chuckling at the nickname, Yang turned to the side and found Blake carefully observing her reaction.

"Book girl, huh? Saving students one homework problem at a time with her superior intellect and problem-solving skills!"

"Are you calling me a hero?" Blake teased.

"Heck yeah! You can be mine any day."

Stopping outside the door to her classroom, Blake turned towards Yang with an earnest expression.

"Then you're mine."

It felt like Blake knocked the air from Yang's lungs with that one. And, while Yang stared, Blake smiled, reached out, and gently squeezed her elbow.

"The Blonde Beauty of Vale High…" Blake whispered, taking a half-step closer. "Standing up for those who need her…"

Yang wasn't sure if she was breathing - it was hard to tell with Blake lightly grasping her elbow and her heart pounding in her ears. When Blake's grip loosened and featherlight fingers trailed slowly down Yang's wrist towards her hand, she felt a heavy blush rushing to her cheeks, hoping beyond hope that Blake meant to hold her hand.

The spell broke when Blake suddenly dropped her arm and stepped back, leaving Yang's personal space and turning her gaze towards the lockers on the opposite side of the hall. A second later, Weiss walked past Yang and gave the two of them a quizzical look - but Yang could hardly peel her eyes away from Blake.

"What're you doing here?" Weiss asked, breaking the spell entirely. "Isn't your class about...two grades below us?"

"Ha ha, very clever," Yang replied, rolling her eyes in the face of Weiss' pleased smirk. "Shouldn't you be saving that witty energy for class? Wouldn't want you to lose your seat in front, after all."

Huffing at the implication, Weiss shook her head before straightening her posture and dropping the annoyed expression completely. "Will you tell Ruby I won't be at lunch today? I have a meeting with a teacher."

The abrupt attitude change was enough to make Yang shake her head.

"I will," she agreed regardless. "I'm sure you'll be missed."

Grateful enough to spare a smile, Weiss nodded to Yang and Blake before walking in class.

"She's so...unique…" Blake said as soon as Weiss was out of earshot.

"We have a love/hate relationship, that's for sure," Yang replied. "Only I never really hate her. I guess she's kinda like the annoying little sister I never had."

Chuckling at the irony that she already had a little sister, Yang looked at Blake and felt her cheeks heat up when she remembered the moment Weiss just interrupted. Blake, however, had already moved past whatever just happened - or almost happened - between them.

"She seems to be very fond of Ruby," Blake said thoughtfully, her brow furrowed while still staring after Weiss. The comment made Yang laugh lightly.

"You can say that again. But Ruby's the only one who'll put up with her."

When the bell suddenly rang, Blake's thoughtful expression disappeared - replaced by a small smile directed Yang's way.

"Anyway, I should go," Yang said while backing away, soaking in that smile for as long as possible. "My class is at the other end of the hall."

When Yang gestured over her shoulder, Blake nodded.

"I'll see you at lunch then."

Grinning at that response, Yang waved and took off at a run to make it to class on time. She couldn't, however, get Blake out of her head even after leaving the girl behind.

'Then you're mine.'

The words ran through Yang's mind over and over again as she rushed down the hall and slipped into her classroom just in time. Dropping into her seat while another boring class began, she found it even more difficult than usual to focus on what the teacher was saying - maybe because her mind was far, far away from the lesson written on the board.

If she had one wish right now, she'd use it to relive that moment on repeat for the rest of her life - with Blake's intent gaze locked onto her, and Blake's hand lightly wrapped around her arm...

Yang didn't want to be one of those girls who wrote their crush's name in their notebooks with hearts and squiggly lines all over, but if anyone saw her brain right now...that's _exactly_ what it looked like.

'Then you're mine.'

If only. Blake was just about the _last_ person who needed a hero.

On the plus side, having a crush made classes easier to sit through - although not easier to understand. Not that Yang planned on understanding much anyway, so she readily ignored the teacher while thinking about Blake instead.

What type of person would Blake consider to be a hero? Was it someone strong? Someone smart? Kind? Generous?

In a lot of ways, _Blake_ could be considered a hero. Super intelligent. Self-assured. Independent. Calm, collected, poised, unphasable. She had a lot of qualities that people would love to have themselves. _Plus_ , she was super gorgeous.

If anyone was fitted for a cape and pair of spandex one day, it would be Blake, not Yang. Although maybe she could get a cape too and be Blake's sidekick! They'd probably make a great team.

Several classes later, Yang was back in the hall rushing towards the lunchroom, her excitement building with every step she took. Her favorite times of the day so far this year were homeroom, lunch, and boxing after school. It didn't take a genius to figure out what all of those times had in common - a severe lack of schoolwork!

And maybe one other thing…

Blake was enthralling, and not just because she was new to the school. They had several new students over the past few years, and none of them were anywhere _near_ as captivating as Blake. Yang would know; she'd met them all.

Good thing Pyrrha couldn't read minds; otherwise, Yang would never hear the end of the light-hearted teasing (the only type of teasing Pyrrha was capable of). 'Is there space for anyone else in there?' she'd probably say while gently tapping Yang on the forehead.

But there didn't seem to be room for anyone else. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Blake, Blake, and more Blake.

Speaking of Blake…

Yang's rapid pace faltered when she spotted the object of her affections duck into the library up ahead.

What was Blake doing in the library instead of heading to lunch?

Students were always welcome in the library, so it wasn't completely unheard of for people to spend their lunch breaks there - especially towards exam season when they were studying practically around the clock. Yang actually heard that if she wanted to skip the crowds, lunch was the best time to go. Unfortunately for her class ranking, she normally opted to skip the library altogether.

But today was the exception.

Not much thought went into her next few actions, as she altered her course and hurried into the library instead of continuing to the cafeteria. The first thing she noticed after walking through the doorway was how the noise from the hall disappeared as soon as the door closed behind her. The quiet was nearly deafening - one of those quiets that left a hum in the absence of sound.

The next thing she noticed was how unfamiliar the room was, which made sense seeing as how she hadn't been in here in...a very long time. They'd probably rearranged everything since her last visit, which hopefully explained why she remembered the checkout counters being on the opposite side of the room.

Fortunately, she wasn't the only person here. She'd stick out like a sore thumb if she was, but other students milled about - some browsing the shelves, some working at small study tables, and others standing in line to check out various materials.

Even though she recognized many of the faces - the more studious students in the school - she couldn't find the one she was searching for. Picking a direction and walking toward a towering shelf of books, she pretended like she was scanning the titles while keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of Blake.

Where had she disappeared to?

...and why was Yang following her like a stalker?

Suddenly realizing how creepy she was being, Yang turned away from the shelf and hurried towards the exit before anyone noticed her. It made no sense to come in here when Blake would be in the lunchroom in a few minutes anyway. Was Yang really in such a hurry that she couldn't wait three more minutes?

"What if she didn't come to lunch?" she argued with herself while exiting the row of shelves and entering the lobby area of the library.

"Yang?"

Freezing at the sound of her name, she silently cursed herself before slowly turning around and finding Blake standing at the end of an aisle not five feet away.

"Oh, hey Blake!" Yang said in a soft voice while throwing in a dumb little wave. "I was just looking for…a book for a history paper. Yeah. History of Vale, ya know?"

When Yang waved as casually as possible towards the nearest shelf, Blake's eyes followed before returning to her.

"In the cookbook section?"

Turning towards the bookshelf in surprise, Yang read some of the spines and fought the urge to smack herself. She didn't even know they had cookbooks in the library!

"Uhh...well you see…"

Searching for a reasonable explanation for the mistake, her tongue instead tied in knots and her mind completely blanked. Unfortunately, the expression on Blake's face said that she already had her own suspicions about what was going on.

Not bothering to finish that thought, Yang clapped her hands together and instantly cringed at how loud the sound was in the quiet library. "So what're you up to?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.

"You look really uncomfortable," Blake replied with a growing smile.

"Uh, naw, it's just…" Attempting to lean coolly against the shelf, Yang immediately straightened up instead.

Apparently, she'd suddenly forgotten what to do with her limbs when she wasn't using them.

"Yeah, I guess," she finally admitted, knowing that the jig was up. "I don't spend much time here. Obviously."

Gesturing again towards the cookbooks, she gave Blake an embarrassed smile that she really, truly felt. This was her punishment for being a stalker, and it was a lesson she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Fortunately, Blake didn't call Yang out on the utter creepiness. Instead, she motioned with her head for Yang to follow her.

"Come with me," she whispered, leading Yang down one of the far aisles before stopping at the section conveniently labeled 'history.'

Yang had gone to school here for three years and would've needed help finding this section. Blake had gone to school here for three _days_ and already knew the layout of the library like the back of her hand. Which somehow made Yang like her even more. Who's first thought was to memorize the floorplan of the library at their new school? That was such a cute thing to do...

"I had a similar report last year, so I might be able to help," Blake explained while scanning the shelves. "This one is great as a general history book," she said, pulling a thick, dusty book a couple of inches forward so it stuck out on the shelf. "It goes through just about everything in a small amount of detail. But if you're going with pre-Industrial, you'll probably want to use...this one."

Another book nudged forward.

"Post-Industrial - I'd use any of these. Or were you thinking of going a more modern route?"

Pulling out a section of three books that were side-by-side, Blake finally turned towards Yang with an expectant expression. But Yang was too busy staring in awe to respond.

How had Blake remembered all of these books from a report she did last year? Yang couldn't even remember what _classes_ she took last year.

"Um…" she stalled, scrambling to make up a topic for her fake report while thoughtfully glancing at the books Blake had selected.

"Of course, if you don't actually have a report, I'd recommend leaving them all here."

"What do you mean?" Yang immediately asked. "I totally…" Catching the way Blake was already grinning at her, Yang gave up her horrible attempt at coming up with impromptu schoolwork. "Ok, maybe I don't have a report. Was it that obvious?"

"Yes," Blake answered, her grin growing impossibly happier. "You're not a very good liar."

"Really? But I've always thought I was!"

Much to Yang's surprise, Blake shook her head.

"It's your eyes. They give you away."

"So I should lie with my eyes closed?"

The halfway-joking question made Blake laugh - a wonderful sound that made Yang's heart flutter in her chest.

"Yes, that'd be one solution," Blake agreed, nodding once before locking onto Yang's eyes and holding them intently. As the quiet of the library settled over them, they just kept looking at each other with their lingering smiles - that is, until Blake finally turned away.

"Here, I want to show you something."

Willing to follow Blake just about anywhere, Yang trailed behind her through the maze of aisles. To Yang, it looked like books, books, and more books. But to Blake, there must be landmarks marking their path, pointing them in the right direction.

Once Yang was thoroughly turned around and lost, Blake stopped at a stack of shelves and raised one hand while scanning the titles. While Blake searched, Yang took the opportunity to stare - admiring the way Blake's hair fell over her shoulders...and how her shoulder curved down into her lower back...and how her shirt fit to her -

Blake suddenly glanced over - totally catching Yang in the midst of staring - before smiling and turning back to her quest. Meanwhile, Yang blushed furiously and tried to quell the many, many butterflies fluttering in her chest.

It was one thing to be caught staring - it was another to be caught staring _so obviously_. Yang might as well have a post-it on her forehead that said 'I'm going to stare at you the second you turn away.'

...which she did as soon as Blake turned back to the shelf and pulled out a book sandwiched between two larger ones. Thankfully, Yang was able to train her eyes on the small paperback when Blake handed it over.

"One of my favorites," she explained while Yang flipped it over in her hands.

"I read this for lit class last year - it was good! Although a little, ya know...book-y."

Blake nodded at the honest response, her eyes observing Yang keenly.

"It can be difficult to understand, but that's one of the things I love about it. Most people read it and just barely scratch the surface, but the ones who really dive in will have a completely different experience. And the words are the same for everyone - isn't that amazing? This is the same," Blake tapped one finger on the book before raising her hand and tapping her temple. "But this is always different."

When Blake's eyes sought Yang's for validation, she numbly nodded in reply.

She'd never wished that she was a good reader, but now she sorely regretted not spending more time in the library. She wanted to read these books the way Blake did - if only so they'd have a similar experience to share.

"What makes this one of your favorites?" she asked instead, curious to know more.

Reaching out, Blake gently took the book from Yang's hands and ran her fingertips across the title before flipping purposefully through the pages. While she did so, Yang couldn't help but notice how tenderly she handled the book. Each touch was filled with care, as if she was acutely aware of how delicate the thin sheets of paper could be. Compared to that, it must've looked like Yang was manhandling the poor thing with her bear claws.

"Books are often attached to memories," Blake explained while searching. "And I have a particularly fond one attached to this…"

While Blake flipped one page at a time - close to the page she was looking for - Yang resisted the urge to ask what memory was attached to this particular book. That question seemed too personal to ask when they hadn't known each other for very long...

"One of my favorite quotes is in here," Blake added when finding the page. Returning the book to Yang's hands, she pointed to a paragraph on the bottom of the left-hand side. Staring at the sentence underneath Blake's finger, Yang read aloud when Blake nodded for her to do so.

"'The sky is boundless,' Liliana sighed while gesturing towards the rolling clouds on the horizon. 'Infinite stars, infinite space...yet still we find means to prosper.'"

After a few seconds passed, Yang lowered the book and laughed softly.

"Alright, we're not all geniuses - can you explain what it means?"

Smiling at what just happened, Blake took the book from Yang's hands and looked at the quote herself.

"This is the chapter where Roland is grappling with his personal failures," she explained, excitement filling her expression as she did so. "Liliana is trying to make him see that...we're all human. We all feel insignificant because we're only capable of small actions in this vast world, but those small actions can add up to big differences. Small changes, one tiny step at a time, help us thrive and flourish into incredible human beings. The main idea being that anyone is capable of changing the world. Anyone can make a difference."

When Blake smiled down at the book, Yang's heart thrummed loudly in her chest. Every minute they spent together, she learned something that only made her like Blake more than before. It was almost intoxicating - the feeling of wanting to know everything possible about this person who'd just randomly walked into her life.

What was it about Blake that drew so much of Yang's attention? Was it the way she walked - her head held high, her eyes always looking forward? Or the way she made no attempt to conceal her brilliance? Or was it the compassion Yang felt radiating from her?

Because Yang loved compassion; it was something she always wanted to see more of...which meant she wanted to see more of Blake.

In the past, there'd been one or two people she liked in a 'they're pretty cool' type of way. In comparison to Blake...there wasn't even a comparison. If this was what it felt like to _like_ someone, then she'd never really liked anyone before.

When amber eyes returned to her, she smiled.

"At least, that's my interpretation of it," Blake concluded with a small shrug. "Someone else could read it completely differently."

"I think you're right," Yang replied, her vote of confidence earning an amused smile.

"Do you?"

"Yes. And not just because you're the smartest one here. Well, but mostly because of that."

When Blake chuckled, Yang grinned and ducked her head to catch just a bit more of that happy smile before Blake turned back to the shelf and returned the book to its proper place.

"At least one person agrees with me," Blake said, catching Yang's glance and looking slightly curious as to why Yang was looking at her in such a way. "Should we head to lunch now? Or do you have more fake reports you'd like help on?"

Laughing at the joke, Yang shook her head.

"You've helped me with all my fake reports for today - maybe tomorrow though?" When Blake didn't look entirely put off by the idea, Yang cleared her throat and added, "But yeah, we can go now. I _will_ need your help getting out of here though."

With a slight smirk at the admission, Blake put her hand on Yang's elbow and directed them through the maze of aisles. While Blake did that, Yang tried to remember to breathe while focusing on the softest of pressure guiding her back to the library doors and into the empty hall.

It was only when they reached the hall that Blake dropped her hand and walked by Yang's side - the two of them heading towards the sound of a mass of voices drifting from the cafeteria.

So...what had almost been an ill-advised detour into the library had turned into maybe one of the best moments so far this year. Maybe Yang should stalk Blake more often.

Only she probably shouldn't do that...

"Thank you...for showing me," she said while they walked, appreciating the small glimpse into Blake's thoughts.

"Thank you for not thinking I'm weird."

"We're all a little weird, I think," Yang answered, turning to Blake with a grin. "That's what makes us special, right?"

Blake's response was a smile as they reached the cafeteria, where lunch was already in full swing. After breezing through the lunch line, they hurried to their table to eat as fast as possible.

"Where were you?" Pyrrha asked when the two of them sat down across from each other.

"Library," Yang answered, turning to Ruby and ignoring Pyrrha's laugh of disbelief. "Hey kiddo, Weiss had a meeting with her teacher so won't be here today."

"Awww," Ruby whined, sticking out her lower lip in a cute pout. "But that means I'll only get two cookies!"

Shaking her head at Ruby's endless sweet tooth, Yang tossed her cookie onto Ruby's tray while Blake picked up hers and offered it across the table. With a sudden abundance of stars in her eyes, Ruby accepted Blake's offer with a soft squeal of joy.

"Thank guys!"

While Ruby hummed and chowed down on her extra desserts, Yang set in on her own lunch - but not without first sneaking a glance across the table. Catching Blake's eyes, she felt more butterflies flutter around her chest. When had those started showing up so often?

"So the library, huh?" Pyrrha asked, unwilling to let it drop. "I didn't realize you even knew where the library was."

"Ha ha," Yang replied while Blake shot a pleased look her way. "I know where everything is in this school, thank you very much!"

"Uh huh…"

"Like I know where all the best make-out spots are for you and your friend."

Coughing loudly, Pyrrha instantly blushed like a tomato at the implication.

"I-I don't know who you're referring to."

"'Uh huh,'" Yang mimicked with a satisfied smile before turning back to her food.

"Where are they?" Ruby asked, the unexpected question making Yang's eyes widen in surprise.

"Uh...around…"

She didn't actually know of where any of these 'official' spots were. She could guess...but why did Ruby care about this? She was way too young, and there was no way Yang was giving her this type of information yet!

"How'd you find them?" Ruby pressed, unaware that she was royally embarrassing Yang in front of Blake.

"I, uh, ya know. Heard about them from other people."

When Ruby's eyes narrowed, Yang hastily took a bite to eat and stared at her tray to avoid eye contact.

"You don't _actually_ know any, do you…" Ruby finally guessed.

"The library is probably one of them," Blake commented nonchalantly, coming to Yang's aid. "There aren't many people around and lots of empty corners. Especially before school starts."

Yang knew that she shouldn't look at Blake, but she did anyway - only to furiously blush when she found Blake looking right back at her.

"Oh, and maybe that abandoned hallway by the home ec room!" Ruby added, thankfully forgetting that she'd had Yang pinned in a corner.

"Or the far side of the bleachers by the track," Pyrrha joined in, blushing when Yang shot her a suspicious glance at the suggestion.

"What about you, Yang?" Blake asked, her playful eyes meeting Yang's across the table. "Any suggestions?"

When everyone's attention turned her way, Yang felt her mouth instantly dry out. Clearing her throat did little to help as she tried to find an adequate response.

"I, uh…"

Honestly, she'd never thought about this subject before making it up a few minutes ago. Why would she? She hadn't been interested in pursuing this with anyone before, but now the girl she _was_ interested in was asking her directly.

Gee Yang, do you want to make out with Blake?

Yes.

Ok, but _where_ exactly? Why don't you just let her know right now?

When the bell rang, Yang grabbed her tray and shot to her feet.

"Guess you'll never know!" she quipped, her cheeks burning as she turned away from the table and Pyrrha's joyful laughter. Of course, she didn't walk away - she still waited for Blake to join her on their walk out of the cafeteria.

"See you later, Ruby!" she called out before her sister raced towards her next class - or more likely to try to find Weiss before class.

"Saved by the bell," Blake commented as they dropped off their trays and headed towards the hall where they would go their separate ways.

"Yeah, ya know, I'm real lucky like that!"

Stopping outside the corridor while students streamed around them, Blake held onto her bag with one hand while turning towards Yang.

"Well, I told you where I'd sneak away to. I think it'd be fair for you to tell me yours in return."

Blake's disclosure made Yang's draw drop - and then she started sputtering.

"So like, you mean -" was all she got out while Blake smiled at the flustered response. Shaking her head, Yang tried to clear her mind but it didn't work. She was still hyper-focused on the idea of Blake sneaking away to a quiet corner of the library - kind of like where they _just were_.

Clearing her throat, she decided that honesty was probably the best policy. She was already suffering from the world's most serious blush - how much worse could it get?

"I've actually...never thought about it," she said, shrugging as if it wasn't that big of a deal. Blake's hardly-concealed smile said otherwise though.

"Well...why don't you think about it and let me know?"

Stunned into paralysis while her cheeks reached new levels of atomically hot, Yang could only watch in shock while Blake calmly walked away with a quick wave. Even when Yang should have turned away, she kept staring - until Blake glanced over her shoulder and caught Yang in the act.

But when Blake smiled, Yang felt her heart melt completely.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she hurried off to class while her thoughts remained on the conversation she'd just left behind.

The equipment room near the gym.

The abandoned classroom on the third floor.

The theater room after school.

Really, anytime and anywhere, but not anyone. Definitely not anyone.


	9. Chapter 9

If Yang didn't already have a problem paying attention during class, Blake would have created one, big time. After being back at school for a few days now, the only important things Yang had learned all had to do with Blake. Were they teaching anything else in class, or was the entire school as obsessed with Blake as she was?

Obsessed was a strong word. Completely captivated? Utterly preoccupied? Whichever one sounded least creepy, use that.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Yang practically skipped to the locker room to get ready for practice. She usually wasn't in such a rush, but practice meant they'd be in the gym. And being in the gym meant she'd see Blake again. Maybe Blake would stay long enough that they could catch up after practice ended...

Shoving her way into the locker room, Yang tossed her bag onto the bench beside Pyrrha.

"How do you always make it here before me?" Yang asked while pulling off her shoes and throwing them into the nearest open locker.

"I told you...my last class is right down the hall," Pyrrha answered, calmly straightening her ponytail and flashing a bright smile. "Plus, I don't dawdle in the hall."

"I didn't even dawdle today!" Yang protested. Earning a disbelieving "uh huh…" in return, she shook her head and nearly pulled her shirt over her head when she realized there was an unread message flashing on her phone. Curious, she picked it up and read the text.

"No way!" she exclaimed, reading the message a second time. "Coach Ironwood is sick?"

"A robot can get sick?" Pyrrha asked, her eyes sparkling playfully.

"Apparently!"

Staring at her phone, Yang was at a loss for words. This was the first time in...basically forever...that their coach canceled practice due to illness. Everyone was just starting to believe that he was an actual robot (a rumor Nora started years ago) and now he went and caught the flu?

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Softly shutting one of the locker doors, Pyrrha turned towards Yang with an expectant expression.

"He said to cancel," Yang explained while holding out her phone so Pyrrha could see. Briefly squinting her eyes, Pyrrha nodded and ran her hand through her ponytail one more time.

"Guess you're free for the afternoon."

"Guess so…"

The change in events was unexpected but not unwelcome. They could always run workouts without Coach here, but his instructions said to cancel and rest up for tomorrow - which was a gift and a half, especially for the new girls.

Ordinarily, Yang would still workout by herself, but with their first bout on Thursday...she'd gladly take the extra rest. The week as a whole would probably be lighter than usual, but they'd more than make up for it on Thursday.

"I'll probably watch you guys," Yang told Pyrrha, who was already ready for her practice.

"I'll see you out there then." With a wave and another smile, Pyrrha walked out of the locker room - and was quickly joined by another teammate who ran to catch up with her.

Shaking her head at Pyrrha's endless popularity, Yang pulled her shoes out of the locker and quickly put them back on. Grabbing her bag, she headed into the hallway and caught Nora's arm before she blazed through the door.

"Hey!" Yang called out. "Coach is sick, so no practice today."

For a second, Nora didn't seem to understand what Yang said. Then came the whines.

"No practiceeee?" Nora wailed, dropping her bag in the middle of the hall. "But what am I supposed to doooo?"

"It's ok, Nora," Yang whispered, patting Nora's arm and trying to prevent her from making more of a scene. When a group of volleyball players walked out of the locker room and shot them curious looks, Yang rolled her eyes and waved them off.

"It's not ok!" Nora shouted, adding a foot stomp for good measure. "I wanna practice!"

"But...why don't you hang out with Ren instead?" Yang suggested, nodding towards the boy about to walk out of school and silently apologizing for sending Nora after him. Because of course Nora's eyes instantly lit up.

"That's a great idea!" she exclaimed, any hint of fake tears gone as she grabbed her bag and raced after him with a loud "Rennn!"

After watching Nora plow into Ren at a sprint that nearly knocked him off his feet, Yang chuckled and leaned against the doorframe of the locker room.

Since Coach probably only messaged her, she needed to spread the word to the rest of her teammates. Once everyone was informed, she could watch track practice. Technically, she could go home too, but she and Ruby always walked home together. Plus, she didn't mind waiting - it wasn't like she had anything better to do anyway. Besides homework...but she didn't plan on doing that until the last possible second.

"Hey guys, no practice today," she told a group of her teammates when they walked towards the locker room. Their reactions were a mixture of relief and disappointment, but mostly relief. Having a day off _was_ pretty awesome - especially for the new girls, who were just getting used to the rigors of training hard every day.

"Sweet," they finally decided in unison, smiling as they turned away from the locker room and headed towards the front doors instead. "See you tomorrow!" one of them called back to Yang.

With a quick wave, Yang waited for the rest of the team to show up. In the meantime, she held onto the straps of her backpack and let her mind wander. And where else would her mind wander but to Blake?

The conversations they had today were still stuck in her mind. Blake saying that Yang could be her hero, reading one of Blake's favorite quotes while in the library, and then there was that _trivial_ matter of where Blake would 'sneak away to' in order to...well, just where she'd sneak away to.

Talking to Blake wasn't like talking to anyone else Yang knew. For one thing, she was incredibly witty and always had a clever remark hidden up her sleeve. But she was also very sharp - kind of like how Weiss was intellectually sharp, but in a less...attacking way.

Did Yang really just compare Weiss and Blake?

The comparison probably wasn't so crazy considering that both were top of the class, super smart, and studious. But the similarities stopped there...at least as far as Yang was concerned. For one thing, Blake actually seemed to enjoy her company, while Weiss certainly did not.

"Hey Yang. What're you doing out here?"

Blinking at the question, Yang found her other teammates walking up to her.

"Oh, hey Hannah," she replied to the girl who'd addressed her. "We don't have practice today. I'm just letting everyone know."

"Thank god," Hannah sighed, sharing a relieved smile with the other girls. "I can hardly lift my arms after last week."

Laughing, Yang held her hand up for a high five, but put it exactly where Hannah would have to raise her arm to reach it. When she reluctantly did so, Yang grinned and patted her on the shoulder.

"You're gonna be just fine, but an extra day off can't hurt. Make sure you're stretching though - a lot."

Nodding at the advice, Hannah smiled before walking off with the rest of the newcomers in tow. Checking names off the list in her head, it was only when Yang was positive she'd let everyone know that she headed for the gym.

The best part about not having practice was that she could watch Ruby's practice instead - and it was always fun to watch Ruby's practice. Unfortunately, she didn't get to do it as much as she'd like to, but today she could watch the entire thing from start to finish. She'd get to see that little brunette bullet leave everyone else in the dust.

Not that Yang was overly competitive or anything, but she really enjoyed watching her sister demolish everyone else on the team. There was something so satisfying about seeing that happen over and over and over again...

As soon as Yang walked into the gym, her eyes drifted to the top of the bleachers - where Blake was already settled into her usual spot with a book in hand. Pausing for a second, one hand still clutching the strap of her bag, Yang couldn't decide what she wanted to do next. Unlike the You-Crew, Blake didn't stay after school to watch boxing, so Yang didn't _have to_ let her know that practice was canceled.

But Blake could read or do homework by the track too...so maybe Yang _should_ let her know.

Altering her path, Yang crossed the gym floor and climbed the bleacher steps, ignoring the pairs of eyes that locked onto her. When she was near the top, she walked over and stood on the level just below Blake - low enough that their eyes met when Blake looked up from her notebook.

"Hey," Yang said, noticing that her lack of workout attire made Blake curious.

"Hey?" Blake asked. While she didn't ask the question out loud, it was clear she was wondering why Yang wasn't dressed for practice. Shifting her bag on her shoulder, Yang tried to ignore nerves budding in her chest.

"Our coach is sick, so we don't have practice today," she explained, watching Blake's eyes fill with understanding.

"Oh...that's too bad. I hope he feels better soon."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine by tomorrow," Yang replied, shifting her bag again and glancing around to see who might be paying attention. Even though she and Blake were relatively separated from the rest of the students, she felt other sets of eyes watching their interaction intently.

Leaning closer, she lowered her voice so no one overheard what she said next.

"I'm gonna watch Ruby's practice. Wanna come with me?" she asked before quickly adding, "There's plenty of space outside to work too."

She didn't want to say she held her breath waiting for an answer, but she let out a sigh of relief when Blake smiled and nodded. After shutting her notebook and sliding it into her bag, she stood and gestured down the bleacher steps.

"Lead the way."

Beaming with happiness that her offer was accepted, Yang headed to the stairs before waiting for Blake to fall into step beside her. The two of them descended the steps together before heading towards the doors leading out to the track. Shoving one of the double doors open, Yang held it for Blake before they walked through the cement tunnel leading to the track and field.

"We can head up here," Yang said, pointing towards a set of stairs leading up to the middle section of outdoor bleachers.

Climbing into the stands, with Blake trailing close behind, Yang was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a lot emptier out here than indoors. With hardly anyone else around, they could pick the seats with the best view of the field and still have some privacy. Not that they _needed_ privacy for anything, but if Blake wanted to read she might want it to be quieter...

"It's nice out!" Yang commented while tossing her bag onto the aluminum bench in front of where they were going to sit.

The weather was sunny and warm, but not _too_ warm - one of those perfect fall days when wearing a jacket or not wearing one would be equally comfortable. Which was good, because Yang didn't have a jacket with her today.

"It is nice," Blake agreed, setting her bag beside Yang's before sitting down. "I've actually never been out here."

"You should see it when there's a track meet. The stands are _filled_ with people."

"Really?"

"Definitely! We're really proud of our track team, so everyone shows up to support them."

"I've heard they're unbeatable."

"You bet. Pretty sure they haven't lost a meet in like...ten years or something," Yang replied with a soft laugh. When another topic didn't immediately spring up, the conversation lapsed into a comfortable silence.

If Blake wanted to read, Yang wanted to give her the opportunity to do so without chattering nonstop - even though that's what Yang _wanted_ to do. Just sitting out here together was nice though...even though Yang's left side tingled from Blake's proximity.

Had they ever sat this close before? Side-by-side like this? Only a centimeter of space separated their shoulders - such little space that Yang could lean into Blake and pass it off as an accident.

While the silence expanded, Blake made no move to open her bag. Instead, she watched the members of the track team walk around the field in preparation for practice. After a few more minutes of inaction on Blake's part, Yang decided it was safe for her to talk again.

"I always forget how big the team is," she commented, watching the team members in their various groups going through a range of stretches. "So many different specialties too."

"I don't know much about track and field, so I'm hoping you can explain it to me."

Yang grinned at Blake's admission.

"I can try! But I'm definitely not a genius at it either." Scanning the field, Yang easily picked out Pyrrha flitting from group-to-group giving instructions or answering questions.

"Pyrrha…" Yang chuckled to herself. "Always helping someone."

"It seems like everyone looks up to her."

"They do. She's the most talented one out there, after all." On cue, Ruby blazed across the straightaway in front of them. "Besides Ruby, of course," Yang added with a grin. "But Ruby's still young. She hasn't mastered a lot of the little details yet."

"Wow, she's fast though," Blake replied, watching Ruby race away from them.

"You bet she is!"

Wrapping her hands around one of her knees, Yang watched proudly while Ruby made the other runners look like they were stuck in molasses. And it didn't even look like Ruby was trying. Her form was far from perfect, and she was laughing too much to be fully concentrating. Even though it was just a warm-up, she easily outpaced her teammates.

After Ruby made a full lap around the track, Yang caught sight of someone else.

"You see that guy right there? The blonde one?" she asked, pointing out Jaune by the benches. When Blake leaned closer to see who Yang was pointing to, her breath caught in her throat.

"Yes."

It was hard to remember what her point had been when her mind was too busy rejoicing in how close they were right now. It was only when Blake turned and gave her a curious look that she started talking again.

"Pyrrha has a _huge_ crush on him," she blurted out. "Has ever since freshman year."

"Really?"

"Oh, but don't tell anyone!" she added as an afterthought, even though she wasn't concerned that Blake would do something like that. And Blake's smile told her that she had nothing to worry about.

"Although it's not really a _secret_ if the entire world knows except him," Yang joked.

"Don't worry, her 'secret' is safe with me."

Chuckling at the reply, Yang was even more ecstatic when Blake didn't move away and opted to sit so close that they were almost pressed into each other. If Yang focused on her side, she felt a little bit of heat coming from Blake's presence beside her...and that made her skin tingle with nerves and excitement.

"Keep an eye on him though," she added when practice started. "He'll probably trip over his feet at least twice before it's time to go home."

When Blake laughed, Yang leaned forward, set her elbows on her thighs, and watched the team congregate at the center of the field to listen to one of the coaches.

The two of them hadn't been out here for very long, but she was already thoroughly enjoying Blake's company - so much so that she kind of wished she _never_ had boxing practice to go to. If she didn't, what were the chances that Blake would hang out with her every day after school?

"So he's the one you were referring to at lunch," Blake remarked.

"Oh yeah. I love giving her a hard time about it. Maybe if I keep bringing it up, she'll ask him out one of these days."

"Why doesn't he do the asking?"

"Jaune?" Yang asked with a huff of amusement. "When you meet him, you'll understand. He probably has _no_ idea how she feels about him."

"That's unfortunate…" Blake mused, mostly to herself while turning her gaze back to the field. When practice officially started, the team split into two groups and headed towards separate corners to receive instruction from a myriad of position coaches.

"Ah, I see. Track and field." While she said the names, Blake gestured towards the separate groups.

"See, you totally don't need me here," Yang joked.

"But then I wouldn't be enjoying myself nearly as much."

The small smile accompanying Blake's statement instantly put a quiver of arrows through Yang's heart.

"I…" she began before suffering a crippling blush that temporarily shut off her brain. "Uh, yeah, me neither," she managed to say before turning towards the track and hoping her cheeks would cool off soon.

Blake was having a good time? Did that mean she enjoyed Yang's company?

The realization made Yang so happy, it felt like she could sprout wings and fly herself to the moon.

"Hey," Blake suddenly whispered, gently tapping Yang's shoulder and motioning off to their right. "Isn't that -"

"Weiss?" Yang asked in surprise when she found none other than Weiss Schnee standing at the end of the tunnel they'd walked through moments earlier. The sight made Yang's brow crease in confusion.

"What's she doing here?"

"I'll give you one guess." With those words, Blake nodded towards the track, where Ruby was talking animatedly with a group of fellow sprinters.

Looking from Weiss to Ruby and back again, Yang felt her disbelief growing by the second.

"No…" was her instinctual reply. But...it _did_ look like Weiss was watching Ruby. And what other reason could bring Weiss to the _track,_ of all places? This was where all the _athletes_ were - i.e., the group of students she openly disdained. Except for Ruby.

The pieces started falling into place, but Yang vigorously shook her head in an attempt to dislodge them.

"There's no way…" she said, her words trailing off again.

There was no way, right? That wasn't...a _thing_ , right?

Blake arched one eyebrow at Yang's stunned incredulity.

"You really can't see it?"

"Well, I...I mean, _everyone_ should love Ruby. She's amazing and funny and sweet! But Weiss?" Again, Yang shook her head at the idea. "Weiss doesn't _like_ people. She tolerates them. She would never..."

Losing that train of thought, Yang turned back to Weiss - who stood just outside the school doors and looked like she didn't want to be spotted actively watching practice.

"And Ruby…"

The next second, Ruby spotted her silent supporter - and her face lit up with happiness. Breaking away from her teammates, she ran all the way across the field before crashing into Weiss for a hug - lifting her right off her feet and twirling her in a few circles before setting her back down.

Yang's astonishment only grew when Ruby's hands lingered around Weiss' waist for a _little_ longer than a friendly gesture - and Weiss _allowed_ Ruby's hands to linger.

And when Ruby fidgeted, she fidgeted _closer_ to Weiss, not away. Which Weiss also allowed to happen.

"Oh my god."

Mouth hanging open, Yang watched Ruby give Weiss a quick wave before racing back to practice. Feeling a hand squeeze her shoulder in consolation, Yang looked at Blake and found understanding, if not slightly amused, eyes.

But holy - hell! What the hell? When had this happened?

"I gotta go say something," Yang said, quickly standing up and heading towards the stairs. Blake chuckled but didn't move to follow as Yang practically ran towards the tunnel.

"Hey Weiss!" she called out while jogging down the steps and meeting Weiss by the doors - drawing a brief flicker of surprise by her sudden appearance. "Whatcha doin' out here? Did you come to watch Ruby?"

As soon as the questions were asked, Yang could practically _see_ the wheels of denial spinning in Weiss' mind - even though her cheeks were already growing red at having been caught. Clearly, she hadn't expected Yang to be out here. Surprise!

"Actually, I was in the library studying and thought I'd step outside for some fresh air," Weiss answered haughtily, flipping her hair to one side in exasperation. "I'm guessing you're out here shirking responsibilities?"

"You know me!" Yang replied with a grin, not even remotely bothered by the attempted insult. Turning back towards the track, she saw Ruby across the field preparing for a warm-up sprint.

"Watching Ruby is great though, isn't it?" she added while her little sister placed one set of fingertips on the ground and held her other arm out behind her. "Running is just so _effortless_ for her."

When her words trailed off, she glanced at Weiss out of the corner of her eye only to find that Weiss was watching Ruby again - very intently.

"She is effortless," Weiss agreed in a soft tone, her eyes never leaving Ruby. "It makes you wonder how great she'll become…"

Shocked by the comment, Yang turned fully towards Weiss.

For one thing, that was probably the first time Weiss had ever agreed with anything Yang said. And for another, that last statement almost sounded...wistful. And Weiss was anything but wistful.

Glancing over and catching Yang's dumbfounded expression, Weiss immediately bristled.

"Also makes you wonder how the two of you are related," she snapped before spinning on one heel to head back inside. Immediately breaking out of her daze, Yang shook her head and called after the girl.

"Wait - Weiss!"

Pausing her hasty exit, Weiss turned back with a great deal of annoyance.

There were so many things Yang wanted to say right now, but she wanted to tease Weiss more than anything else. Make fun of her just a _little_ bit. Maybe a Ruby-related pun?

Instead of doing any of those things, Yang smiled.

"I'll let Ruby know you had to get back to studying," she said, barely catching the sliver of unexpected gratitude that flashed through Weiss' eyes.

"I would appreciate that," Weiss replied, almost begrudgingly, before ducking her head in what must be a gesture of thanks and stalking back into the building. Even after Weiss disappeared inside, Yang stood there and stared at the door she'd just passed through.

That was the real Weiss Schnee, right? The one stomping away in a huff of money-backed haughtiness - not the wistful, contemplative girl with a severe soft spot for track stars?

Unable to figure out the answer, Yang shook her head and jogged back up the bleachers.

With Blake watching intently, Yang sat down and tapped her hands on her knees while a slew of emotions fired through her veins - most of them on the 'complete disbelief' side of the emotional spectrum. After opening and closing her mouth several times, she finally took a deep breath and smiled.

"Well, this was a lot more eventful than I thought it'd be!" she joked.

"What did she say?" Blake asked in return.

"She said…" Thinking back on the brief conversation, Yang shook her head. "She was typical Weiss, but I guess she didn't really need to say anything."

Actions spoke louder than words, and Weiss' actions had just shouted something Yang never saw coming. Staring down at the field, her eyes trained on Ruby - watching Ruby laugh with her teammates before jogging to the starting line for another warm-up sprint.

Her little sister was growing up right in front of her. It felt like only yesterday that the two of them walked to school on Ruby's very first day - Ruby's hand was clammy with nerves, but Yang assured her that she was going to have a blast. Now look at her - growing taller, getting faster, and capturing hearts in the process - _frozen_ hearts too, not just regular hearts.

Weiss freaking Schnee - the queen of ice herself.

Ruby sure didn't back away from a challenge...

"Do you think that will work out?" Yang asked, turning back to Blake and receiving a reassuring smile that eased the small thread of worry she was latching on to.

"Weiss adores her, you know. Besides schoolwork, that's about the only thing we have in common to talk about. Well, Ruby and you. But our opinions on you are...very different."

"Oh god," Yang said with a laugh. "I can only imagine the things she says about me behind my back."

Blake chuckled but also shook her head.

"It's actually not as bad as you think. She has a certain amount of respect for you."

"Does she really?"

"Yes, although she won't admit it's there."

"She'll be so upset that you told me that," Yang joked before they lapsed into another thoughtful silence. Blake sent several glances Yang's way, but also gave her time to process what she just learned.

Weiss and Ruby. Ruby and Weiss. Now that Yang had seen it, she couldn't _unsee_ it. The biggest question now was...how had she missed it?

They were together all the time. Weiss was a different person with Ruby than with anyone else. Ruby went out of her way to spend time with Weiss. And apparently Yang was damn clueless about the entire thing unfolding right under her nose.

But Weiss adores Ruby. _Adores_ \- that's the word Blake used. It was impossible to imagine Weiss Schnee adoring anyone, but if someone were to get close...it would be Ruby.

"Alright, I'll dwell on that later," Yang announced with a shake of her head. "It looks like the sprinters are about to race."

"Who's the best sprinter on the team?" Blake asked, willingly turning back to practice for a change in subject.

"Ruby, of course," Yang answered while Ruby lined up with several of the other sprinters - all of them listening to some last-second instructions from their coach before he stepped off to the side.

"Ok," she began while watching the sprinters step on their blocks. "So they try to simulate race conditions as close as possible. They'll even use the gun to start them off. It's muscle memory like that."

With each of the sprinters in place, they froze in their starting stance and waited for the signal to go. Their coach walked by and tweaked a few postures before standing at the edge of the field and holding the small starting gun up in the air. A loud pop rang out as the sprinters shot off their blocks and raced forward in near unison, but it wasn't more than a second before Ruby developed a lead that kept growing. And growing...and growing...until she raced across the finish line and came to a stop, turning around to wait for her teammates to catch up.

Weiss was right. When Ruby focused and tried her best, there didn't seem to be a limit to what she could accomplish. Dad wouldn't be paying for her college, that was for sure!

"Wow…" Blake said, her eyes still watching the sprinters as they regrouped to discuss the results. "If Vale High has the best track team in area, then these are the best sprinters in the area…"

"Yup -" Yang said, already seeing where Blake was headed with this line of reasoning.

"And Ruby just beat them handily."

When Blake looked at her in amazement, Yang nodded.

"That's Ruby," she replied proudly.

"That's incredible."

The single sentence summed Ruby up pretty perfectly.

"She got all the talent, that's for sure," Yang joked. "I'm gonna have to talk to Dad about that…"

"Oh please. Like you're not talented?"

"Compared to Ruby?" she asked before shaking her head. "Nope. I'm like one of those other sprinters, just trying to catch up."

The sprinters ran through another set, slightly longer this time, but with the same results. If Yang had to guess, by this point the rest of the group only competed for second place. Ruby was just on a different level than the rest of them right now.

"You two are really close."

The comment drew Yang's gaze back to Blake.

"She's my best friend," Yang answered before shrugging. "It's always been this way. Ever since we were little."

Blake nodded, briefly turning towards the track before her gaze found its way back to Yang.

"She even followed you into trouble, didn't she?" Blake asked, her eyes sparkling with humor when Yang laughed and nodded enthusiastically.

"She did. She sure did. Little rascal has no fear."

"Well…" Turning back to the track, Blake watched a group of long-distance runners sail by. "She grew up well."

"I think so. But what about you?" Yang asked, not bothering to watch the track as she watched Blake instead. "Any siblings?"

"Nope. Just me."

"Probably a good thing - I don't know if the world could handle two of you."

When Blake laughed at the line, Yang beamed with success. Sure, she might _normally_ stumble over her words when Blake was around, but she could still deliver a good line or two.

"So…what do you like most about reading?" she asked, turning fully towards Blake while waiting for an answer.

"Using my imagination, traveling to far-off places, meeting people and experiencing events I wouldn't otherwise."

"All of those sound great," Yang agreed with a nod. "I should read more…"

"It's never too late to start," Blake immediately said, tilting her knees towards Yang's so they bumped lightly together. "And you _might_ just know someone willing to give you a list of suggestions."

"Oh really?" Yang asked, playfully pretending not to understand that Blake was making the offer herself. "You mean Weiss? Because I'm pretty sure she'll tell me to read some self-help books or something."

Laughing at the joke, Blake shook her head.

"You could ask Weiss, but I think I'll have better suggestions."

"That sounds like a competition."

"I'm sure I'd win."

The response made Yang burst into joyful laughter, which mostly came at Weiss' expense.

"Careful, Blake. I don't think you want to declare war on Weiss' book-suggesting skills."

"I haven't devoted so much time to reading and _not_ developed some confidence in that ability," Blake answered with a startlingly-attractive smirk of self-assurance.

"But Weiss has known me longer," Yang pointed out.

"Has she?" Blake repeated, giving Yang a sly smile before shrugging. "I still think I can choose a better set of books for you. There's a lot about your personality that she seems to be missing."

Unexpectedly on board with the idea of the two smartest girls in the school picking out a list of books for her, Yang grinned while feeling something akin to success trickle through her veins. Sure, it was a little strange to think that Weiss and Blake had analyzed her personality, but Blake's confidence made her a lot happier than it should have. That probably meant she was easy to read - like a book.

"I don't think we need to make it a _competition_ ," she finally said. "But if you have some free time and come up with a few, I'll check them out."

"I'd love to."

When Blake smiled, Yang couldn't help but smile back. She'd just volunteered to _read_ in her free time, yet she was surprisingly excited about it. Who cared if that wasn't what she usually did? It would give the two of them more reasons to spend time together and more things to talk about.

Not that they seemed to have an issue coming up with topics on their own. It was easy to forget that they came out here to watch track practice when it was so much fun to simply talk with one another. And, unsurprisingly, the more Yang learned about Blake, the more her rather-large crush grew.

Was this how Pyrrha felt all the time? No wonder she bent over backward to spend time with Jaune! At this point, Yang would do just about anything for a few more minutes with Blake - even if she had to skip lunch or wake up early to do so.

Did this mean she was the same as Pyrrha now? With an unrequited crush that would rule her thoughts and actions for the next year?

Speaking of Pyrrha...

"What're they doing now?" Yang asked herself, finally tearing her attention away from Blake when she noticed Ruby running across the field to find Pyrrha. The two spoke for several seconds before Pyrrha laughed and gestured for Ruby to follow her. After leading Ruby to the other end of the field, Pyrrha picked up a javelin.

"Oh no," Yang groaned as soon as she understood what was about to happen. "She's going to throw the javelin."

"Is that a bad thing?" Blake asked, scooting closer so the two of them could watch the scene play out.

"Not necessarily," Yang said, watching Pyrrha demonstrate the proper hand positioning before going through a throw in slow motion. "But it took years for Ruby to get her feet moving in the same direction. I don't think her arms are cooperating yet!"

Blake chuckled softly as they watched Pyrrha draw her arm back and let one fly - the javelin shooting through the air and landing near the other end of the field.

"Wow."

"She didn't even try with that one," Yang replied with a proud laugh. "Now let's see what Ruby can do…"

Crossing her fingers that Ruby didn't somehow figure out a way to impale herself, Yang watched her hold the spear in one hand like Pyrrha just showed her. Even from this distance, Yang could tell that Ruby felt super awkward - which she made all the more obvious when she laughed and said something to Pyrrha. After receiving a few last minute instructions, Ruby nodded once, took a running start, and let the sucker fly.

It actually flew too! And not straight into the ground.

"Hey! That was pretty good!" Yang exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "I thought for sure she'd trip and hurt herself or something…"

"It sounds like you might need more confidence in her ability to take care of herself."

Turning towards Blake, Yang found an expression that said the words were intended to bring them back to their prior conversation.

"I guess so," she agreed before turning back to Ruby - watching her sister race across the field to retrieve the javelin before running back to try again. When Ruby promptly tripped over nothing and sprawled onto the turf, both of them burst out laughing.

"And yet some things never change," Yang mused while watching Ruby pick herself up and jog back to Pyrrha as if nothing happened.

But that was just it, wasn't it? Ruby still fell down - all the time, actually - but she was capable of picking herself up now. She didn't need Yang around to offer a hand, and that was...a really weird feeling.

"You doing ok?"

The caring question drew Yang out of her thoughts, were Blake was giving her a concerned look. Smiling, Yang leaned back on the moderately-uncomfortable bench and nodded.

"All part of growing up, I guess."

When several whistles sounded in near unison, Yang found the coaches signaling the end of practice. Dropping the javelin on the ground, Ruby raced over to the big crowd gathering in the center of the field.

While practice wrapped up, Yang stood and stretched her arms over her head before looking down at Blake.

"Ok, so what we learned today," she said, holding up one hand to count off the multiple important topics they'd discussed. "Ruby could be a javelin thrower if she wanted. You're an expert at recommending books. And there was another one, but I can't seem to remember it…"

Briefly tapping one finger to her chin while narrowing her eyes, Yang waited for Blake to laugh before saying, "Oh right! And Weiss Schnee has the hots for my little sister. Totally forgot about that."

"If you didn't see that, I'm wondering what else you might have missed," Blake mused, grabbing her bag and standing to join Yang. "Have you ever thought about who might like _you,_ and you just haven't noticed?"

For a few seconds, Yang just stared at Blake - who looked back just as intently.

"Well I am now!" Yang whined, making Blake laugh as the two of them headed back through the tunnel that led into the gymnasium.

Maybe she'd missed the obviousness of Weiss liking Ruby, but she wasn't that dense when it came to people liking _her_ \- was she? Sure, there was the You-Crew - her perennial fan club - and Neptune, but other than that…

Well, whenever someone confessed having feelings for her, she was always caught off guard. That _might_ imply that she wasn't very aware of other people's feelings for her. Which meant that out there, somewhere, could be god-knows how many people harboring feelings for her. That was actually a little alarming to think about!

Although she wouldn't mind if one specific person belonged to that group...

"Yang!"

Turning towards the sound of her name, she just barely caught the rocket plowing into her side, letting out a soft 'ummph!' in surprise.

"Did you see me? Pyrrha let me throw the javelin!" Ruby said, bouncing between her feet as if she hadn't just run fifteen miles.

"I sure did!" Yang replied, giving Ruby's hair a little rustle. "You can probably be the backup if you wanted to!"

The reply made Ruby giggle before turning that unassuming grin on Blake.

"Hey Blake! Glad you were able to watch too!" Ruby quipped before looking at Yang. "I'll change so we can go home!"

Without another word, Ruby raced towards the locker room at a fast jog while Yang looked after her with a smile.

Ruby would always be her little sister...even if she'd grown up and didn't need Yang as much anymore.

"I can see why Weiss couldn't resist," Blake commented, making Yang playfully groan.

"Not you too!"

"Oh no," Blake replied with a shake of her head and teasing smile. "But I can understand Weiss' position. Sometimes, someone comes along who you'd never expect…"

When Blake's words trailed off, Yang hung onto them and hoped for more explanation than that. Like who? Was Blake referring to someone in particular? Or just speaking hypothetically?

But Blake stared towards the door Ruby had just raced through before coming out of her thoughts and meeting Yang's eyes. Reaching out, she gave Yang's arm a quick squeeze before letting go.

"Thank you for the lovely afternoon," she said with a smile before heading towards the doors on the opposite end of the gym - taking Yang's heart with her in the process.

Sometimes, someone comes along who you'd never expect...that's exactly what just happened to Yang. In no way had she expected to run into someone as amazing as Blake on the first day of school. If she'd known, then she would have spent the entire summer preparing for them to meet.

"I saw _someone_ had company today -"

Turning towards the teasing voice, Yang swatted in Pyrrha's direction while the redhead walked past with a way-too-amused grin set in place.

"Where's Jaune, huh?" she called back, earning a pair of wide eyes from Pyrrha as another presence paused by Yang's side.

"I'm right here - were you looking for me?" Jaune asked while Yang turned towards him with a bright, not-at-all-mortified smile.

"Hey! There you are!" she said in an upbeat tone that would hopefully dispel his suspicion. "I just wanted to say thanks for helping out the track team - Ruby's always saying how good of a job you do!"

When Yang softly knocked his shoulder in congratulations, Jaune gave a sheepish grin.

"Well, you know, I try my best to help," he muttered towards his shoes.

"Keep it up!" Yang said before hastening away the instant she spotted Ruby coming out of the locker room. "See you later!"

Making an abrupt exit and leaving Pyrrha to clean up the aftermath, Yang grabbed Ruby's arm to lead them both out of the gym.

"Come on, kiddo - let's go home," she said, shooting one glance over her shoulder to find Pyrrha and Jaune still standing where she'd left them.

"Think we can have mac n' cheese tonight?" Ruby asked while they headed out the front doors. The request made Yang shake her head as they raced down the steps and reached the sidewalk that would take them home.

"You're such a kid sometimes," she teased, elbowing her sister lightly in the side.

"Hey! Mac n' cheese is for kids _and_ adults!"

"And which one of those groups do you fall into?"

Glancing to her side, Yang watched Ruby carefully weigh her options.

"Kids," she finally admitted. "But I'm not a baby anymore!"

Chuckling at the response, Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulders and gave her sister a sideways hug.

"No you're not, Ruby," she agreed before letting go. "You're really not."


	10. Chapter 10

Tuesday mornings were barely better than Mondays. They were one day closer to the weekend, which was nice, but the weekend was still basically four days away. Four days of rolling out of bed way too early, trudging to school with a backpack stuffed with bricks, forcing pointless knowledge into their brains, and carrying more homework home. So yeah, Tuesday mornings sucked just as much as Mondays.

On this particular Tuesday, however, it would be impossible to tell from the way Yang woke up as soon as her alarm went off, got ready for school in record time, and dragged Ruby out the front door without a single school-related complaint to be found.

Complaints about school were hard to find these days. Ruby hardly complained in general, and Yang found it harder and harder to gripe when she _liked_ going to school. Talk about a complete about-face from the end of last year, when Ruby had to literally pull Yang by the hand so they'd make it to class on time. Not anymore.

As soon as they'd walked into the building, Ruby flew away like she normally did - off to practice or whatever she did in the mornings. That left Yang humming a tune to herself while practically skipping to homeroom.

"Good morning, Blake!" she said as soon as she entered the classroom and caught sight of her new favorite person - who was reading, as usual.

Pulling the spare chair over like she'd done the previous few days, Yang was grateful that Blake didn't seem to mind the early morning interruption. If Blake _did_ seem annoyed, Yang would stop doing it immediately.

Instead, Blake smiled, used a bookmark to mark her place, and closed her book. The action felt like a subtle cue that Yang now had Blake's full attention, which made her feel extraordinarily special. She'd noticed how Blake sometimes tuned out what happened around her while she read, but she stopped reading for Yang.

It was probably nothing. Yang shouldn't read into it too much.

"Good morning," Blake replied with that same all-knowing smile Yang loved. "How are you?"

"You know, actually pretty great!" Yang answered before leaning across Blake's desk to whisper. "Last night I was thinking about…" Glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, she lowered her voice even further and said, "You know…"

"Who might like you?" Blake responded, her eyes twinkling in humor.

Leaning back in the chair, Yang laughed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Naw, I already know the answer to that one," she replied before gesturing towards Neptune's desk. "But you know what I mean! And I think that...that it could work out. It really could."

Did she _want_ to risk Ruby's heart with someone notoriously cold and unforgiving? Hell no! But was it really her place to decide who Ruby liked? Again, hell no. A much smaller hell no, but still...no.

And, as much as Yang hated to admit it, Weiss was different with Ruby. The biting sarcasm...subtle or overt insults...general haughtiness...all of those disappeared when Weiss spoke to Ruby. She could still be a bit bossy and demanding sometimes, but the tone was different. It was almost like she _cared_ for Ruby as an actual human being, whereas the rest of them were constantly in her way or annoying her.

"I'm glad you're ok with it. Although I don't know how long it will be before they consider taking that step."

"Hopefully forever," Yang responded with a chuckle that Blake matched with amused eyes. "Let's hope that Weiss has even less courage than Pyrrha!"

Ducking when a bag swung awfully close to her head, Yang swiveled in her seat and grinned after her friend.

"Woah there, Pyrrha - you almost got me."

"That was for yesterday. And for whatever you just said," Pyrrha teased in return, shooting Yang a cheerful smile while walking towards their seats.

"All that and my punishment is to _nearly_ get hit in the head?" Yang asked before chuckling to herself and turning back to Blake. "I mean...I already signed up for getting hit in the head every day after school!"

When Blake laughed at the joke, Yang beamed in success. Maybe she was getting better at this whole flirting thing! Not that she was trying to flirt or anything. She was just being friendly and welcoming and…

Ok, maybe she was trying to flirt a _little_ bit.

"What did you do to her yesterday?" Blake asked.

"Oh, I accidentally made a reference to Jaune when he was right behind me," Yang answered with a nonchalant wave. "But I totally played it off - it worked out fine!"

When Blake laughed again, Yang only managed to tear her eyes away from the cheerful sight when Penny walked through the door carrying a giant cardboard house. And by giant, she meant _giant_. Nearly as wide as the doorway and so tall that it almost entirely blocked Penny's head from view.

It looked like a floating house with a small bit of orange bob visible behind the chimney.

"Wow," Yang heard Blake mutter while Penny carried the cardboard creation past them.

"You finished it already?" Yang asked, turning around and watching Penny set it proudly on top of her desk.

"I did! We're presenting them today after lunch!"

"I gotta check this out," Yang directed towards Blake, who smiled while Yang stood and walked over to take a closer look at what Penny had created.

It was _awesome_ \- and probably way more than the teacher asked for, but Penny was an overachiever in the strangest ways. Ask for a five-page paper - she'd turn in _exactly_ five pages, down to the very last line. Ask her to build a house out of cardboard and...well, they were lucky it fit through the doors.

"Is that a tiny gym?" Yang asked while pointing to a small room with tiny cardboard gym equipment glued inside.

"Yes!" Penny answered, happy that Yang identified the room correctly. "There's a gym, a library, two dining rooms, and five bedrooms."

"Wow." Turning around, Yang shared an impressed nod with Blake as Mr. Oobleck raced through the door. As usual, their homeroom teacher looked like he was being chased by something, and dropped a stack of papers on top of his desk like they were on fire.

"Good morning, students!" he called out to them before scrounging around in his drawers for something. Sensing that class was about to start, Yang walked back to Blake's desk and returned the spare chair to its proper place.

"I'll talk to you after class?" she asked hopefully, her spirits lifting when Blake nodded.

"Absolutely."

Satisfied with that answer, Yang grinned and headed down the aisle to her seat beside Pyrrha.

"Do you remember when we used to talk in the morning?" Pyrrha asked before adding a whimsical sigh. "Those were the days, right?"

"You know if Jaune was in this class, you'd do the same thing to me!" Yang replied, to which Pyrrha gave her a very smug expression.

"Are you saying you have the same feelings for Blake as I do for Jaune?"

"Are you saying that _you_ have the same feelings for _Jaune_ that I do for Blake?" Yang immediately retorted, successfully flipping Pyrrha's words back on her.

And then the two of them stared at each other for a few moments, neither wanting to blink first and admit anything to the other.

"Students!" Mr. Oobleck said, forcing an end to their stalemate. "I know I normally say there's important news, but this is _actually_ very important -"

With a smirk, Yang turned towards the front of the class - well, slightly towards the front of the class, but a little off to the right where Blake's desk was. If she could redo picking her seat, she'd definitely pick the one next to Blake even though it was in the front row. Maybe she'd get called on more by the teacher, but the opportunities to glance over and catch Blake's eyes…

Suddenly stretching her back, Blake turned in her chair and meaningfully caught Yang's gaze. After the two of them shared a quick smile, she swiveled back around and listened to Mr. Oobleck. And maybe Yang didn't need to sit in the front in order for Blake to set her cheeks on fire.

One of these days, Blake might come right out and ask Yang why she stared all the time. How could she answer that question? 'You're just that beautiful, you know?' Sure. That'd be good enough for a year's worth of embarrassment…

When the bell finally rang - cutting Mr. Oobleck off mid-sentence - Yang flipped her notebook shut and accidentally flung her pen onto the floor in the process. Ignoring Pyrrha's laughter at the snafu, she scrambled to grab the runaway object before tossing it on top of her notebook and shoving both into her bag.

"In a hurry?" Pyrrha asked, her small grin threatening to turn into an all-out smile at Yang's plight. "Because she's not."

When Pyrrha nodded towards the front of the room, Yang found that her haste was unnecessary. Because, instead of immediately leaving the classroom like she had the previous few days, Blake now waited by the door for Yang.

She could read into _that_ , right?

"See ya, Pyrrha!" she said before racing over to meet Blake so they could walk out of class together.

"Goodbye, you two," Pyrrha responded to both of them before heading off towards her own class, trailed by a few happy notes of laughter the surely lifted the moods of everyone who heard it.

"She's very sweet," Blake commented while she and Yang headed in the other direction.

"She is. If you're looking for someone who deserves to be well-liked and popular, it's Pyrrha."

"You deserve those things, too."

Laughing lightly, Yang shook her head at the compliment.

"Pyrrha and I are different. There's not a mean bone in that girl's body, but me…" Pausing, Yang looked down and curled her fingers into a tight fist. "I have some mean bones."

When a soft hand wrapped around hers, she looked up and found comforting amber eyes staring back at her.

"Standing up for what you believe in isn't mean."

"Punching people in the face isn't usually considered 'nice,'" Yang replied with a half smile while dropping her hand - pleasantly surprised when Blake's hand remained around hers on the way down before finally breaking apart.

"It's all a matter of perspective," Blake answered calmly while leading them to stop by her locker.

"Just like the book you showed me yesterday?" Yang asked, earning a pleased smile in response.

"Exactly. There are multiple ways to look at any scenario even when the facts seem set in stone."

"Maybe next time I get in trouble, you can talk to the principal for me," Yang suggested with a soft chuckle. "I'm sure you'll have more luck with him than I do."

Shutting her locker door, Blake smiled before gesturing for them to continue on their way.

"If I'm going to do that, maybe you can explain what goes through your mind when you're walking through school?" Blake asked, casually looping her arm through Yang's and leading them down the hall. "It will be helpful in building your defense."

Luckily, Blake seemed oblivious to the fact that Yang's heart had just tripled in speed from their suddenly-close proximity.

"Lots of things," Yang managed to say while trying not to _obviously_ stare. "Classes, homework, friends…"

Left off that list was the subject that had dominated most of Yang's thoughts since the beginning of the school year - the very girl who'd asked the question.

"I mean when you decide to stop and speak to someone you don't know," Blake clarified as they walked amongst the students rushing to their lockers to pick up books they needed for their next classes. "How do you pick who to talk to?"

"Oh, that! I just try to find someone who looks like they could use a little extra cheer in their day."

"What do you look for?"

"Um…" Trying to find an example, Yang scanned the halls before unfortunately finding someone who precisely fit the bill. "Like him - he looks a little down, don't you think?"

She nodded towards a young boy with a disheveled mop of brown hair and a slight frown, who currently looked like he wanted to disappear in the middle of the hallway. With a heavy sigh, he struggled to get his locker door open, before succeeding and nearly falling backwards in the process.

Yup, he was having a rough day.

"I try to get them to smile," Yang added. "If I can get them to smile even once, I'll consider my job done."

"So you'll just...walk over and start talking?"

Grinning at Blake, Yang nodded and gestured his way.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Leading them on a slight detour across the hall, Yang reluctantly dropped Blake's arm and leaned against the row of stubborn lockers so the boy noticed her. He was probably a freshman from his younger facial features and shorter, scrawnier stature - and he'd apparently been assigned one of the most jammed lockers in the building.

"Hey there!" she said with a warm smile, her sudden appearance making him jump in surprise.

"Um...hello…" he replied, his eyes shifting around the hall like he was trying to find the person playing a joke on him.

"I'm Yang. This is my friend, Blake," she continued undeterred while pointing to Blake - who smiled and gave him a quick wave. "We were hoping you'd walk us to class today!"

Looking back and forth between Yang and Blake, the boy's disbelief only grew. Which, honestly, Yang would _also_ be pretty darn disbelieving if someone as beautiful as Blake wanted Yang to walk her to class.

"Are you serious?" he finally asked, his incredulity making Yang chuckle.

"Absolutely! We're going this way - you too?"

Although he was still vaguely suspicious - probably thinking someone was pulling a prank on him - he nodded and shoved his locker closed. The door stuck with the bottom still open, so he frowned and kicked it in with his toe before nodding again.

"Stubborn things, aren't they?" Yang asked while they walked down the hall - catching the small smile Blake directed her way from the other side of the boy. This wasn't exactly how Yang had planned for their walk to go, but at least Blake was willing to go along with it.

"So what's your name?" Yang asked in an attempt to dispel his worry that this was all just an elaborate joke.

"Trevor..."

"Trevor...Trevor…" she repeated several times, narrowing her eyes at the vaguely familiar name. Suddenly remembering where she heard it before, her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! You wouldn't happen to have a pal named _Freddy_ , would you?"

Bingo. His eyes lit up at the question.

"I do!"

Yang laughed at the response, knowing that the tide had turned in her favor.

"Then you know my sister, Ruby!" she said, grinning when Trevor smiled widely and nodded.

"I met her on the first day of school! She's really nice!"

The answer made Yang beam while silently thanking Ruby for making such a good first impression.

"You bet she is. She thought you were awesome too!"

"Really?" Trevor asked while stopping by a classroom door. He briefly scratched his temple - looking unsure if he fully believed her - but then he grinned. He was a pretty cute kid when smiling...much better than the frown from earlier.

"This is my class," he added, gesturing through the doorway.

As Yang suspected - it was a first-year science class, complete with a group of rowdy boys playing around on one of the lab tables inside.

"Before you go -" Looking in both directions down the hall, Yang leaned closer and whispered, "Can I meet Freddy?"

His smile growing even larger, Trevor carefully set his bag on the floor and unzipped it. Then he reached inside and pulled out an honest-to-goodness frog. Blake laughed at the unexpected sight, while Trevor gently set Freddy in the palm of Yang's hand.

Not entirely sure what to do with a frog, Yang touched the top of the creature's head and was extra careful not to let it jump away. The last thing they needed was a loose frog in the hallway.

"Can Blake hold him too?" she asked after she felt she'd appropriately tapped the little frog's head. When Trevor eagerly nodded - looking thrilled that someone else was interested in his pet - Yang delicately dropped the creature into Blake's hands.

For a split second, their hands touched again, and butterflies fluttered through Yang's chest as she pulled her hands away. When Blake gently touched Freddy's head and the frog immediately let out a quiet croaking sound, Yang laughed.

"He likes you!" she said, earning an entertained grin from Blake before she carefully handed the frog back to his owner.

"He's very cool," Blake told Trevor, who beamed at the compliment.

"Thanks for showing us," Yang added. "And for walking us to class!"

Taking a step away, she left Trevor with a wave before turning with Blake to head to their own classes.

"That's basically it," Yang concluded while they headed to Blake's classroom several doors down. "It's nothing special, see? Everyone has a few minutes to talk to someone who might be a little lonely."

"Hmm…" was Blake's only response until they reached the classroom door. That's where she stepped off to the side and reached out to prevent Yang from leaving.

"Not everyone is willing to do that, Yang," Blake added with a serious expression. "What you do _is_ special. _You're_ special."

The praise was so unexpected, Yang had no idea how to respond. Especially when Blake looked at her so earnestly - so honestly - that Yang wanted to believe the words were true.

Suddenly noticing that they were the only ones in the hallway, Yang glanced at the clock and saw that she only had a few seconds before the bell would ring.

"I - should probably run," she replied. When Blake nodded, Yang turned and bolted for her class. Which she made it to right on time, although her heart continued its rapid beating far beyond when it should have slowed down.

She'd never really felt special before, but when _Blake_ said it…it made her feel like she could fly to the sun with happiness.

Her next few classes were only special in that they gave her time to dwell on what Blake said and how it made her feel. Trying to cheer people up didn't seem like a huge deal, but maybe that was because it had been part of her routine for a long time.

What was it like when she first started looking out for others? It was so long ago now, she could hardly remember. It was probably a little uncomfortable at first, maybe even a little difficult, but she'd always found it easy to talk to new people. The biggest issue was learning how to find the ones who needed help the most.

Honestly, it only took a few minutes of her time each day - that wasn't a big deal at all. Walking to class, she could stop and say 'hi' to a new student and ask them how their day was going. Or she could strike up a conversation with someone waiting on their ride after school. Those were all small things - tiny bits of effort that could brighten someone's day.

Sure, sometimes she got into fights, and sometimes she taught a bully a good lesson, but those were extreme cases. She wouldn't recommend that anyone else try to do that, but speaking up? Reaching out? It didn't take years of boxing lessons to do either of those things.

Counting down the minutes until lunch arrived, Yang subtly gathered up her class materials so she could slip them into her bag as soon as the bell rang. While she did so, a brilliant thought popped into her head.

Yesterday, she ran into Blake near the library, which meant that Blake's class must be in the A-wing somewhere. Soooo...if Yang was fast enough, and took a completely different route, she might be able to catch up with Blake on the way to the cafeteria again.

Taking her newest theory for a test run, Yang bolted out of class the instant the bell rang and hurried in the opposite direction of what she normally did.

"'Scuse me," she muttered while dodging between several students and taking a shortcut to save herself time. Everyone else probably thought she was in a big rush to get to lunch, but...her theory was totally right.

Spotting Blake leaving a classroom up ahead, Yang doubled her pace to catch up.

"Hey!" she called out, earning a surprised look for her unexpected appearance. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"You go to lunch this way?" Blake asked, her confusion evident in her expression.

"Uh, yeah, sometimes! You don't mind walking with me, do you?"

When Blake shook her head, Yang decided that she was racing this way from now on. A short sprint was definitely worth a few extra minutes of conversation - plus, she could use the extra cardio.

Shoulder-to-shoulder, they joined the throngs of students heading towards the cafeteria at a more leisurely pace.

"You know," Blake began. "I'm still amazed at how easily you can change someone's day."

"It's really not that special," Yang replied with a laugh.

"You realize you probably made his year, don't you?"

"Doubtful, but at least his walk to class was a little brighter!"

"Aren't you aware of how popular you are?"

Yang shrugged off the question. People always told her that she was popular, but she only thought of it as being friendly.

"People pay attention to me, for whatever reason," she replied easily.

"Then you understand that just by walking with him, you made him a little more popular?"

The idea made Yang laugh and shake her head.

"I don't think it works like that. I wish though! Then I could make everyone popular, and we could all be nice to each other."

"When I left class, there was a whole group of boys asking if they could see Freddy."

"That's great!"

Turning to the side, Blake looked like she was trying to figure Yang out before giving up with a relaxed smile.

"People like you because you're kind-hearted, Yang," she finally said. "It's always been that way."

"Always?"

"People at Menagerie talk about you, you know."

"They really do? You weren't just teasing me about that?" Yang asked, making Blake laugh at the memory of their first meeting.

"No, that part was true."

"What do they say?"

"You're beautiful," Blake replied, briefly locking eyes with Yang while saying the word. And her heart immediately lodged in her throat - staying there even after Blake's gaze drifted back to the hall. "And you're kind to everyone. Outgoing, funny...everyone wants to be you."

"Including you?" Yang asked, watching the corners of Blake's mouth twitch upward.

"No...I just wanted to know you."

"And now that you do?"

"They're wrong. You're even more amazing than they know. But...I always knew that."

Pausing at the end of the hallway - where classrooms gave way to the large atrium connecting most of the school - Yang looked at Blake with a mixture of curiosity and appreciation. She'd never known someone who made her feel so...special. And while she didn't believe she deserved the compliments, she appreciated receiving them.

When she opened her mouth to respond, however, she suddenly heard something out of place.

"Hold up," she said, turning away from Blake while trying to figure out what she was hearing. It was the sound of laughter - harsh, unpleasant laughter.

Looking down one of the connecting hallways, Yang caught sight of the back of Cardin's stupid gelled hair amongst a crowd of people. The boy was laughing at something, and she instantly knew it wasn't anything she would find humorous.

"Be right back," she muttered before stalking down the hall. "I'm gonna go knock some sense into him..."

A small crowd was forming in the middle of the hall - an even worse sign. Sliding between a few students so she could figure out what was going on, Yang found Penny kneeling the middle of the hallway collecting pieces of cardboard while Cardin snickered at her.

The sight instantly made her heart pound with anger.

"Cardin!" she shouted at the boy, who immediately stopped laughing at the sound of his name.

When he saw the look on her face, he bolted. She immediately broke into a run after him, dodging around other students while trying to catch up. Reaching out, her fingers barely grasped the collar of his shirt - just enough for her to get a handhold and slam him into the lockers on the side of the hallway.

"Cardin!" she yelled again.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted back, covering his face with his hands.

She was seething, but she knew better than to hit him first. She _wished_ that he would take a swing at her though - just one. Even half of one. Anything to give her the excuse to knock the grin permanently off his face.

But he was too much of a coward to ever try to hit her, so she needed to keep her emotions in check - even as fury burned through her chest.

"You're going to apologize," she growled through gritted teeth. "Right. Now."

Grabbing him by the upper arm, she marched him back through the hallway to Penny. Blake was helping her pick up the pieces now, but when Yang stopped Cardin in front of them, Penny looked up with timid eyes.

"You better mean it," Yang whispered to him, her fingers squeezing his arm tight enough to make him squirm. "Or you're going to regret this."

"I'm sorry Penny," he sputtered. "That wasn't nice of me to bump into you like that. Can I like...replace the boxes or something?"

Shaking her head, Penny managed a small smile that he in no way deserved.

"No, it's ok. But thank you for the apology."

Even though Penny's spirits seemed to have lifted, Yang wasn't done with Cardin yet. Dragging him just out of earshot, she dropped his arm and jabbed a finger into his chest a little more forcefully than necessary.

"You listen to me, Cardin," she began, her voice a low snarl still simmering with rage. "I've given you a lot of passes, but I've _had it_ with you. If you so much as _look_ at someone wrong again, I'm going level you in front of everyone. So if you want to be humiliated for the last year of school, be my guest. I don't care if I get suspended. Got it?"

His eyes wide, Cardin nodded and, for the first time, actually seemed to be rethinking his decisions. When Yang took a step back and jerked her head to the side, he scurried away with his tail between his legs - not looking back or uttering another word. Once he was gone, she took a deep breath and hurried back to Penny and Blake.

The bell rang then, dispersing the rest of the crowd and leaving only Blake, Penny, and a stack of cardboard that had once been a really wonderful house.

"I'm so sorry, Penny," Yang said, looking at the ruined project and feeling a wave of sorrow wash over her. "Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe we can put it back together?"

After inspecting the damage for a few seconds, Penny smiled and nodded.

"I bet with the two of us, we can fix it in no time!" she remarked.

"And with three of us?"

Yang and Penny both turned to Blake at the question.

"It will be even faster!" Penny said happily.

Yang mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Blake, who waved off the gratitude.

"We can probably use the physics classroom," she suggested. "The lab tables should be big enough."

"Alright," Yang said before collecting a pile of cardboard pieces, thankful to have a plan of action. "You lead the way."

Following Blake through the halls and into the empty physics classroom, they set Penny's project on one of the lab tables and Penny immediately assessed the damage. When she pulled up on the chimney and the house regained much of its original form, Yang sighed in relief. Because Penny was a genius cardboard-house builder, she'd created a folding structure that had just collapsed in on itself. A lot of pieces inside the house had broken off, but the structure was still mostly intact.

"We need some glue!" Penny deduced.

"Glue…" Yang repeated, looking around and then glancing up at Blake in surprise when three bottles were placed on the table in front of them. "Well, Blake's on top of things," she added with an impressed grin aimed Blake's way.

"If you hold it up, I'll start gluing!" Penny remarked while grabbing one of the bottles.

Doing as told and carefully holding the top of the house by two of the sides, Yang waited patiently while Penny quickly and methodically dabbed glue on the broken joints.

"Now don't move!" Penny ordered before flitting away.

Holding the pieces of cardboard had felt easy right up until Penny said that. Now Yang was very much aware of how her arms were in an awkward and uncomfortable position. One held the top left corner of the house while the other held the middle of the rightmost wall...but she could do this! With concentration.

Furrowing her brow and trying not to let her arms shake, she noticed that one of the middle supports was about to slide out of place. If it did, it would drag the little cardboard staircase down with it - and that would suck to fix.

"Uh, hey -" was all she got out before an arm reached through and caught the beam right before it fell. Glancing up in gratitude, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with Blake - who stood practically on top of her with one arm reaching between both of hers. And, due to the awkward angle, Blake's arm was _kind of, slightly_ resting against Yang's chest.

"Um, thank you," Yang mumbled, blushing a deep shade of red when she noticed the rosy tinge on Blake's cheeks. "H-how long do you think this will take to dry?"

"A few minutes," Blake whispered back.

Accepting the answer, Yang cleared her throat and tried to look away - only to turn right back. From this close, she could see the tiny streaks of deep brown in Blake's eyes. And the way her lashes curled so perfectly, fluttering up and down whenever she blinked. Her lips were slightly parted, and a quick tongue flicked out to wet them before disappearing again.

Humming to herself, Penny was completely oblivious to their current predicament while re-adding some of the home fixtures - a sofa here, a bed there. Her constant motion was fine until she squeezed behind Blake - forcing Blake to scoot forward and press closer to Yang in the process.

And Yang would probably spontaneously combust at any second from how hot her flush grew. Now she could feel Blake's breaths on her cheek and knew that if she turned her head to the right, they might accidentally kiss.

When Penny finally passed, Blake gave Yang a half inch of space so she could breathe again.

"I think it's dry now!" Penny chirped from the other side of the house after tapping at one of the sides. "Try letting it go and see if it stands!"

Hesitantly releasing the inner support beam, Blake lingered for a second before withdrawing her hand when the piece didn't budge. Taking a step away, she gave Yang her personal space back, although she suddenly found herself wishing that the glue had taken longer to set.

Slowly loosening her grasp of the house, Yang kept a watchful eye to make sure the entire thing wasn't going to collapse again before finally releasing the roof entirely. Holding her breath for a few seconds, she beamed when there was no movement.

"Look at that! We have a house again!" she exclaimed, making Penny clap before dividing a stack of cardboard between the three of them.

"Now we can put everything back inside!"

Looking at the random assortment of pieces in her hands - furniture and picture frames and tiny little teapots - Yang picked one out and held it up.

"Uh...Penny?" she asked. "What's this?"

It was some sort of creature - black with white and red splotches, and _huge_ claws. Definitely not a real animal. At least, Yang _hoped_ it wasn't a real animal, because it looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

"That's my Baby Grimm!" Penny exclaimed while gently taking it from Yang's fingertips. "Isn't he cute?"

"Uh, yeah. But what's a Baby Grimm?"

"I don't know...I just made it up."

"That's...very creative," Yang replied, unsure of what else to say.

"You think so?" Penny immediately asked, her eyes sparkling with unconcealed hope. "People never think I'm creative! They only think I'm weird and robotic."

"Well, they're wrong," Yang replied with a smile. "You're an amazing person - and super creative."

When Penny made a happy sound, Yang watched with a small smile while a drop of glue was put on the back of the Baby Grimm before he was stuck on top of a small bed in one of the rooms. With the creature safe and sound, Yang picked up the last bottle of glue and went to work putting the rest of the house back in order.

Fortunately, it was pretty easy to tell where more of the pieces were supposed to go. The teapot went on top of the miniature stove. The sofa went in one of the living rooms and was identical to the second sofa Blake had already glued down. And the tiny pictures had labels written on the back in pencil that specified the room they'd come from.

All-in-all, it was a very organized house.

"Oh here!" Penny suddenly exclaimed while Yang stuck another picture to the wall of the third bedroom. "You can be my last house guests!"

When Penny held out two cardboard people that looked like the outlines drawn at crime scenes, Yang and Blake accepted them with curious looks.

"And you can pick a room!" Penny instructed before pointing back to the house.

"You mean we don't get our own rooms?" Yang joked, but Penny pondered the question long and hard before answering.

"Well...you could...but then where would Baby Grimm sleep?"

Chuckling at the response, Yang let the tease drop. Sometimes, she forgot that Penny would take every word literally.

"Right. We can absolutely share," she agreed before looking at the house. "Um...which one do you want, Blake?"

"The one next to the library, obviously."

"Great! We'll take that one," Yang agreed, peering into the small bedroom next to the well-stocked library. "Wait, Penny - there's only one bed in here!"

"Can't you share?"

The idea of sharing a bed with Blake caused Yang's cheeks to heat up again.

"Uh, yeah, of course we can."

"Don't worry, I won't bite," Blake teased, only making Yang blush further.

"I wasn't...thinking about that…"

But now she was.

"Write your names on them!" Penny said, handing over a pen before whizzing away with little white shutters to be glued outside each of the windows.

After labeling their cardboard pieces, Yang and Blake carefully stuck them into the bed together. The arms and legs hung over the edges and kind of overlapped on top of each other, but it would have to work.

"Look at it!" Penny exclaimed, holding her arms out towards the masterpiece. "It's just like new!"

Standing back, Yang shared a grin with Blake as they admired their success.

"You're totally getting an A on this project, Penny," Yang remarked while Penny carefully lifted the house from the table. "Do you need help carrying it to class?"

"Thank you, Yang, but I can carry it. Thank you for your help!"

"Absolutely," Yang said before Penny raced out the door with her newly-rebuilt house.

Left in the nearly empty classroom, Yang lingered behind - in no rush to leave.

"Thank you," she said, turning back to the person who didn't have to help but had volunteered anyway.

"Don't mention it," Blake replied with a smile. "I'm glad I could help."

Looking at the door again, Yang sighed in relief.

"I'm so glad her project wasn't ruined..."

"If anything, it's better now because it has a cardboard copy of you in it," Blake joked, succeeding in making Yang laugh.

"Hey, I'm not the only cardboard person in there!" she said before her eyes widened with realization. "Oh god, what will her classmates think when they see us in bed together?"

"They'll think we're having a sleepover," Blake replied with such a straight face that Yang snorted with laughter.

"Right. Because a class full of high school students is _totally_ gonna think it's an innocent little sleepover."

"Isn't it?" Blake asked, her eyes sparkling with humor while Yang's tongue tied itself in knots.

"I - uh, I mean, yeah?"

Thank god the bell rang and saved her from that one.

"Guess we should head out," Yang muttered, the look on Blake's face saying that she'd hadn't been 'saved' so much as Blake was letting the topic drop. When the two of them walked into the hall, they found students pouring in from the cafeteria for their next classes.

"You always apologize for them," Blake commented while they joined the crowd.

"What?"

"You apologize. For the bullies. Like it's somehow your fault that they're mean."

"Oh, I'm not apologizing for them. I'm apologizing because -" Yang trailed off when she realized what she was going to say, but Blake was already waiting for an answer. "Because...I feel like I should've stopped it from happening in the first place."

Reaching out, Blake touched Yang's shoulder - making her heart beat faster the instant Blake's fingers landed and squeezed reassuringly.

"We're lucky to have someone like you around...when we need you."

Blake's eyes were so filled with gratitude that Yang was almost confused, but Blake's hand was still resting on her shoulder - the light touch sending electric tendrils through her veins. Unfortunately, the moment vanished when Blake's eyes flitted away.

"We should get to class..."

"Yeah...gonna be a long day without food."

On cue, Yang's stomach rumbled. Hearing the sound, Blake looked back and forth in the rapidly-emptying hall before leaning forward and lowering her voice.

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Like right now?" Yang asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"You mean...skip class?"

"Yes."

Watching Blake's eyes dance as if the question was an unintended challenge, Yang looked around the hall and then grinned.

"I will if you will."

Hiding a smirk, Blake grabbed Yang's hand and dragged her down the hall - away from class and towards the exit of school instead.


	11. Chapter 11

Blake was still holding Yang's hand when they hurried out the doors and across the sidewalk. And Yang practically skipped along with wings on her feet, all-too-willing to follow Blake anywhere and everywhere. They'd passed the far edge of the parking lot when Blake finally released Yang's hand, and they slowed their pace to a comfortable walk.

"That was...surprisingly easy," Yang said, more than a little surprised at how smooth their escape had been.

"What were you expecting? Guard dogs by the exits?"

"No," Yang scoffed before grinning. "Killer robots, maybe."

When Blake chuckled and shook her head, Yang's smile grew.

The idea of leaving school during the day had always seemed like some sort of undercover, secret agent mission - they'd use the air ducts and distract the teacher-sentries using clever disguises or the fire alarms. They'd likely be spotted, at which point a short chase would ensue, followed by their miraculous escape to the wonderful outdoors.

In actuality, they went to one of the side exits, opened the door, and walked outside. They even passed a few teachers on the way out, but no one questioned where they were going or why. Such lax security measures were shocking, to be honest. But it was a school and not a prison...although it certainly didn't feel like that sometimes.

"You realize what we are right now, don't you?" Yang asked as school fell further and further behind.

"What?"

"We're _truant_." Looking over her shoulder, she half-expected to find a teacher chasing after them. Thankfully, there wasn't. Yet.

"Are you ok?" Blake asked, turning to Yang with an arched brow. "Do you want to go back?"

"It's too late to go back now! What're we gonna say if we get caught?"

"We'll tell the truth. We helped Penny and then were hungry, so went to get lunch."

"How are you way more relaxed about this than me?" Yang asked, genuinely surprised by Blake's unflappable demeanor. "Be honest - do you skip school all the time?"

Blake smiled at the question but shook her head.

"Actually, this is the first time."

"It's my first time too," Yang replied before quickly adding, "I mean, first time skipping school."

"Really?" Blake asked, her tone holding enough disbelief that Yang laughed.

"Contrary to popular belief, I follow the rules. Just...not when it comes to bullies. But what about you, Miss Straight-A Student? I bet you've never broken a rule in your life."

"Excuse me? If I recall, it was _my_ idea to skip class."

"Oh? So you're a rule breaker, are you?" Yang teased. After briefly trying to keep a straight face, Blake failed and smiled.

"Not at all."

"Thought so," Yang replied, swinging her arms in content while they walked towards the only fast food restaurant near the school. "Hope you like burgers though - that's about the only option we have."

"I'm not picky. When it comes to food, at least."

Turning to the side, Yang caught another one of those signature grins and - this time - couldn't help asking a follow-up question.

"What are you picky about then?"

"Books mostly," Blake answered, her eyes never leaving their destination - a burger place not too far away. "I read a lot, but that doesn't mean I'll read anything."

"Having standards is good. Otherwise, the other books will whisper behind your back," Yang joked before lowering her voice for effect. "Did you _hear_ who Blake was out with last night? It was that _novel_ from aisle three. You know - the one no one else would touch."

While Blake laughed at the joke, Yang jogged forward and opened the door to the restaurant. After following Blake inside, she discovered a room filled with people she recognized - all the other kids who hardly ever showed up for class. Not exactly _great_ company, but now she knew where they hung out when teachers were looking for them.

"I'm buying," Yang said as they stepped into line for the register. "And no complaints," she added when Blake opened her mouth. "It's my treat for helping Penny put her project back together."

Closing her mouth, Blake nodded and smiled without a word.

"And get whatever you want," Yang added while they waited for the person in front of them to finish their order.

" _Whatever_ I want?" Blake repeated. "What if what I want isn't on the menu?"

Glancing at Blake in surprise, Yang briefly thought about that question before finding the perfect answer.

"I'll still get it for you! But if it's really far away, you've gotta give me some extra time - a day or two, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take you _that_ long," Blake replied before they stepped up to the counter to order.

"What would you like?" the cashier asked without changing his severely-bored expression.

"I'll have a number three please," Yang answered before turning to Blake. "What about you?"

"I'll have the same."

Tilting her head at the answer, Yang handed her card to the cashier while her attention remained on Blake.

"Thought you said you didn't want to be like me," she teased, earning a playful expression in return.

"I don't. But you have great taste in fast food."

Laughing, Yang accepted her card and receipt before the two of them stepped off to the side to wait for their order.

"Thank god we're getting food," she admitted while they waited. "I don't think I would've survived practice on an empty stomach."

"That wouldn't be good."

"It really wouldn't! That would be a bad end to the day," she replied, shaking her head before sighing when she remembered what brought them to this point. "Freaking Cardin…" she muttered to herself, feeling a burning tendril of anger reappear in her chest.

"I thought you would hit him," Blake confessed. And the admission made Yang sigh again - a little heavier this time.

"I won't lie and say I didn't want to, but I'm not allowed to do that anymore."

"Do what, exactly?"

"Hit a bully first," Yang elaborated. "If they swing at me, I can defend myself. But I can't go around knocking people out whenever I want."

"I'm impressed. That must take quite a bit of self-restraint."

"It was a learning process, that's for sure." Pausing for a second, Yang thought about the difficult process of training herself not to let anger dictate her actions. When people did something wrong, she wanted them to stop immediately - but that didn't mean violence was always the answer.

"My dad got me into boxing lessons really young," she explained while watching the employees move around the kitchen. "Pretty soon, I could probably take out anyone going to school with me. But it's that whole 'great power and great responsibility' thing. I could actually hurt someone, and I don't want to do that. I just want them to learn a lesson."

"Order fifty-two -" the man behind the register called out before dropping a tray on the counter and walking away without another care in the world. Stepping forward, Yang picked up their food before gesturing for Blake to choose where she'd like to sit. After she picked a table near one wall of the building, the two of them sat down across from one another to eat.

"I think it's fascinating," Blake replied while casually dunking a french fry into a cup of ketchup. "You've turned standing up for other students into a type of job or...quest of some kind."

"Then hopefully I'm good at it," Yang quipped after swallowing a big bite of her burger. "I've learned a lot too."

Blake's curious expression was enough for her to continue unprompted.

"Like, there are two main types of bullies. Most of them are like Cardin - they talk the talk, but they don't want to take a fist to the face. If you threaten them and mean it, they'll normally back down. But there are a few who won't - those are the ones who need to learn the hard way."

"By way of your knuckles?"

"Or a bit of a shove," Yang added with a small smile. "I don't want to get into a fight unless it's absolutely necessary. But it only takes one of those before the pansy bullies - that's what I call the ones like Cardin - run at any type of threat."

"So are there any of the...meaner kind...at school right now?"

Yang shook her head and tossed a fry into her mouth. "Not that I know of."

"What about girls?"

"What about girls?" Yang asked in confusion.

"Well, obviously you don't go around threatening to hit other girls, do you?" Blake clarified.

"Oh! Of course not. Girl bullies are tough to deal with actually. I can't threaten them, and I can't just flirt with them like some guys. I mean, some of them I can, but not all." Pausing when she realized what she'd just admitted, Yang blushed and cleared her throat. "Girls usually speak in popularity though. They'll do anything to get it and anything to keep from losing it."

"It must help that you're incredibly popular," Blake replied, smiling while she took a sip of her soda.

"For better or worse, people watch what I do. So I try to set a good example and hope the other girls will follow. I've had some harsh words with a few though." Running through a list of potential troublemakers at school, Yang landed upon a name that made her chuckle. "I thought Weiss was going to be one of them, but then Ruby went and stole her heart."

"That's certainly true," Blake agreed.

"The first couple years were tough though," Yang added. "Weiss and I constantly butted heads. If you can imagine her pre-Ruby, she didn't care what _anyone_ thought about her. In her mind, she was the best and brightest person in the _world,_ and no one would ever make her think otherwise. But then Ruby showed up and that pretty much went away. Now Weiss mostly just insults me, but I can deal with that."

"I'm pretty sure that's her way of being your friend," Blake replied with an amused smile. "Similar to how a boy might pull a girl's hair on the playground."

Narrowing her eyes, Yang pointed a french fry across the table.

"Are you saying that Weiss is actually trying to flirt with me?"

Blake immediately shook her head.

"Not exactly, but a similar concept." Pausing for a second, Blake gave Yang a smug smile. "Although you wouldn't know if someone _was_ flirting with you, would you?"

"I totally would!"

"Would you?"

"Yes!" Although Yang felt certain when she said the word with such emphasis, her confidence evaporated when Blake raised one brow in disbelief. "Ok, maybe I wouldn't know _all_ the time," she acquiesced. "But if it was obvious!"

"So you'll only catch it if it's obvious?"

"I'm _pretty_ sure you're twisting my words around here," Yang replied with a grin.

"Fair enough," Blake said with a soft chuckle. "So Ruby showed up and solved your Weiss problem."

"Yup! By making Weiss fall in love with her, apparently." Mulling over that sentence, Yang still couldn't believe that's what happened. Of all the people at school, _Weiss_ fell into Ruby's not-at-all cleverly-laid trap with a pile of chocolate chip cookies used as bait. How did Weiss not that coming? The girl planned for everything, and she walked right into Ruby's sugar-coated snare.

"I don't think you realize how big of an impact you have on people," Blake said, continuing even after Yang chuckled and ran one hand through her hair. "I hear what people say about you, you know. The entire school wants to be your friend."

"And I'll gladly be theirs!" Yang answered, although she was moderately embarrassed by the amount of undeserved praise Blake was giving her right now.

"Enough about me though," she added with a quick wave. "What about you? Do you like it here? Do you miss your friends at Menagerie?"

Even though she must have sensed the clear attempt to change the subject, Blake accepted the new topic.

"A little bit. But honestly, I've never had too many close friends. I've always been more of a loner."

"Did that change when you transferred?" Yang asked. "Because you don't seem like _that_ much of a loner."

Sure, Blake liked to read a lot and that might seem a little unapproachable, but if someone struck up a conversation, she was super friendly and considerate!

"A lot changed when I transferred. And yes, I do like it here - quite a lot."

The way Blake said that - combined with the way she looked at Yang right now - sent a shiver of thrill down her spine. She imagined that it was hard to transfer at the end of high school, but if she'd somehow made the transition easier for Blake, then she was happy.

"Glad to hear! Because you're kind of stuck with me for the rest of the year."

As soon as the words slipped out, Yang realized how they sounded. Before she could attempt to play it off, however, Blake smiled and said, "I can't wait."

Blake couldn't wait to spend the whole year together? That...was exactly how Yang felt too, only times a thousand. Based on how the past few days had gone, this was going to be the _best_ year ever.

After polishing off her hamburger and wiping her hands on a napkin, Yang balled up the wrapper and tossed it onto the tray. Leaning back in her seat, she sighed in content now that her hunger was satiated.

"Thanks for getting lunch with me," she said while watching Blake put her trash onto the tray, as well. "And for helping Penny."

"You don't need to thank me for either of those things. I'm glad you're feeling better though."

The comment sent a bit of curiosity through Yang's mind, but she ultimately accepted the observation. She _had_ been wound up and upset after what Cardin did, even though it turned out alright for Penny in the end. Thank god it turned out alright for Penny. Otherwise...she didn't know what she might've done.

But with Blake's help fixing Penny's project and then a very enjoyable lunch to decompress, Yang felt much better. Spending more time with Blake definitely lifted her spirits, and the fact that Blake noticed her mood was pretty flattering. Normally, she hid behind a smile, but it didn't seem like that worked with Blake. That wasn't a bad thing. It was just...something new.

"Are you ready to head back?" Blake finally asked, leaning forward like she was seconds away from getting out of her chair.

"Absolutely."

In agreement, they both stood and Yang picked up the tray to carry it to the garbage bin.

"We make a good team, huh?" she asked on their way out.

"Yes, but you can be in charge of all the punching."

Yang laughed at the response while holding the door for Blake.

"Not a problem," she said while stepping into the afternoon sun and immediately yawning. "Oh no...I missed my nap class."

"I don't remember seeing that as an option on the class list…" Blake mused while they headed back to school.

"Oh it's there. It's just mislabeled as 'economics.'"

After a quiet laugh, the two of them walked towards the school building in comfortable silence. Yang never considered silences comfortable before, but with Blake they were. There was no pressure to force another topic. They could just...enjoy one another's company.

That didn't mean Yang was out of topics to talk about. She had lots and lots of questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't mind the little moments of silence between conversations. As much as she enjoyed the silence, however, she liked listening to the sound of Blake's voice even more.

"Have you ever been bullied?" she asked when they neared the outer reaches of the school parking lot. Initially, it felt like a dumb question based on how fiercely-independent Blake was, but the way she looked straight ahead and clenched her jaw made a pit appear in Yang's stomach.

"When I was younger, it happened fairly often," Blake admitted before shaking her head. "They would steal my books and tease me about reading so much."

The thought of Blake being bullied made Yang frown while a familiar feeling clawed at her heart - a hot, angry feeling that reminded her of the times Ruby was picked on.

"If you remember any of their names, I'll track them down for you."

The offer made Blake smile and let out a light laugh, but she shook her head.

"I appreciate that, but I don't think it's necessary - at least, not anymore." Looking ahead of them, Blake smiled and briefly lifted her hands before dropping them once more. "It took some help, but eventually I learned to ignore what they said. I love to read. If they had a problem with that, then I didn't have to be friends with them. As soon as I stopped caring about what they said or what they called me, they decided it wasn't fun to tease me anymore. It's not fun to bully someone who doesn't care about what you say, is it?"

When Blake finally turned back to Yang - with a smile that wasn't at all impacted by the story she just told and the hardships she lived through - Yang nodded.

"They do it for the reaction," she agreed.

"Exactly." After a pause, Blake took a deep breath and continued. "If anything, I think the experience made me stronger."

Now _that_ statement made Yang happy.

"Really?"

When Blake nodded, Yang sighed in relief.

"That's great to hear," she said, tilting her chin up and looking towards the clear blue sky. "That's what I'm hoping for people like Penny - that they're better off in the end. That they'll end up stronger and more resilient. But seriously, if Cardin ever messes with you again, I'm going to knock his head off."

Anger swelled in her chest at the thought of _anyone_ bullying Blake, of all people. Why would anyone be mean to someone so sweet? It didn't make any sense but, then again, it never did. Fortunately, Blake had overcome that situation using her strength and willpower - two traits she certainly wasn't lacking in.

"So I get special treatment?" Blake asked.

"Of course."

It was only when Blake looked abundantly pleased by the statement that Yang understood how it sounded.

"I mean, you're new here," she added. "We can't make a bad first impression, can we? Vale High has a reputation to uphold!"

From the way Blake playfully nodded, Yang knew her attempt to cover up the admission had either failed miserably or Blake saw right through it.

"If I'd known this was what you'd be like, I think I would've transferred years ago," Blake commented, the words making Yang flush substantially.

"You don't regret it then? Switching schools?"

"Absolutely not. It could be one of the best decisions I've ever made…and not just because the academics are better."

Even though Yang had no idea if the reply meant what she _thought_ it meant, her heart soared into the sky in happiness.

"I'm glad you transferred too," she willingly conceded. Even though an immediate blush grew from the candor, she was happy to have said it regardless. It was true, after all. Blake's sudden appearance in her life had caused a never-ending chain of positive reactions. And if this was only a few days of spending time together, she couldn't even imagine how awesome the rest of the year would be.

With school looming ahead of them, they veered away from the main entrance and snuck inside using the side exit they'd used to leave. While walking up the steps, Yang heard the loud bell ring from deep inside the building.

"We have perfect timing, don't we?" she asked with a chuckle of surprise, pulling open the door to find students pouring into the hall. Hundreds of voices suddenly competed for attention, effectively ending their comfortable silence.

"I'll walk you to class!" Yang added. "Where are you headed?"

"Advanced literature," Blake answered before pointing down the correct hallway.

"Do _any_ of your classes not have 'advanced' in front of them?"

"Yes. Homeroom."

The joke made Yang laugh, and she nodded in respect of Blake's quick wit.

"Fair enough. And lunch too - my favorite classes of the day!"

"Any reason in particular those are your favorite?"

"Uh...because they don't involve learning?" Yang answered before dramatically waving towards the classroom where advanced literature was held. "You're more than capable of learning for the both of us."

Instead of heading into the classroom, however, Blake moved off to the side of the hall and lingered by the door.

"I'll see you after school?" she asked, meeting Yang's gaze without hesitation.

"Yeah, absolutely!"

If there was a surefire way to make Yang grin like an idiot, it was by making plans to see Blake again. In just a couple of hours too. They hadn't even separated yet, and already she was looking forward to it.

When Blake's gaze suddenly drifted over her shoulder, Yang turned and found Weiss walking past them.

"I hope you're feeling better," she directed to Blake while pausing by the door. "Mrs. Rivers sends her best, and she gave me your work to pass along when you got out of the nurse's office."

"You...told her I was sick?" Blake asked, taken aback by the comment.

"Yes. You were feeling a little sick at lunch, remember?" Weiss replied with a pointed gaze. "I hope laying down helped you get over whatever was bothering your stomach."

The look Blake gave Yang was filled with as much shock as she currently felt.

"Thank you," Blake finally replied with a genuine smile which, of course, made Weiss bristle.

"I only did it because I may need a favor too someday," she huffed before hurrying through the door with a "hmmph" - all while Blake stared after her in surprise.

"She's like...a very prickly teddy bear, isn't she?"

"I think she likes you!" Yang remarked. "Despite her best efforts not to. You know, as her sworn smart-kid enemy."

After staring into the classroom for a few more seconds, Blake turned to Yang with a smile.

"Thank you...for the delightful lunch."

"Absolutely. Anytime," Yang replied, struggling to keep her cheeks from flushing with happiness. "I mean, maybe not anytime cuz we don't want to get in trouble, but you know what I mean…"

Still smiling - even more now after the nervous rambles - Blake reached out and gently squeezed Yang's arm before taking a step towards the classroom.

"I'll see you later."

"Can't wait," Yang said while backing away. "Let's hope Pyrrha's as good a friend as Weiss is!"

Chuckling at the irony of that statement, she rushed off to class...but not without one last glance at Blake.

Any other time, what Cardin did would have ruined her mood for the rest of the day. But Blake had turned that crummy incident into just a blip on the radar. Instead of smoldering with anger, Yang practically skipped through the halls with wings on her feet. It was amazing, really. The rest of her day would be cast in the pleasant glow of going out to lunch together, and that was a much more preferable way to end her day.

Dwelling on Blake - her smile, her laugh, her way of knowing what Yang was going to say before she said it - made the rest of her classes fly by. Which was surprising considering each of the teachers had planned an excessive amount of learning for a Tuesday. But no amount of meticulous lesson plans could keep Yang's mind away from Blake and the fact that they'd see each other again after school.

Now if only practice weren't in the way…

"Hey guys!" she said while jogging out of the locker room and passing several of her teammates on her way to the gym. By the time they waved back, she was pushing the door open and heading inside. As usual, her gaze immediately crept up to the top of the stands - where Blake was already sitting. Today, however, Blake looked up from her book and smiled when she caught Yang's eyes.

How badly did Yang want to go up there right now? Pretty dang badly! But Coach Ironwood was already standing on the other side of the gym talking to Nora. And, from the way Nora bounded up and down in front of him, she was _hyper_.

"Hey Coach!" Yang said once she joined them. "Hope you're feeling better?"

"I am. Thank you, Yang," he replied with a slight tilt of his chin. "Today we're working on multiple combinations, but towards the end of practice I want you and Nora to go through some light spars in preparation for Thursday."

"Yes!" Nora exclaimed before giving Yang a stinging high-five.

Nora _loved_ skipping drills. Yang loved skipping drills too, but Nora really, really loved doing anything but repetitive motions. That's what made their practices leading up to a match so much fun - they'd spar today, recover tomorrow, then pull out all the stops for Thursday.

After the rest of the team trickled out of the locker room, Yang led them through the usual warm-up before they started some of the usual drills. It was all such second nature to her by now that she was able to do most of it without paying much attention, freeing up her eyes to watch whatever Blake was doing instead - which was reading, reading, and more reading.

Yang couldn't figure out why anyone would make fun of Blake for that. She liked to read - so what? She was also pretty much a certifiable genius. They could all stand to be a little more like Blake.

"Yang!"

The shot to her shoulder knocked her a step backward and told her that she'd been staring for too long.

"Coach said we can go now!" Nora said before shoving a pair of gloves into Yang's stomach. "So come on!"

Rolling her eyes at Nora's eagerness, Yang shot a look towards the rest of their team and found them listening to Coach Ironwood's instruction for the end of practice drills. Pulling on her gear, she ducked between the ropes that Nora was not-at-all patiently holding open for her.

"I can't wait for Thursday!" Nora squealed, throwing several quick jabs in the air after following Yang into the ring.

"It's gonna be fun," Yang replied with a grin. Suddenly dropping her hands, Nora looked left and right before lowering her voice.

"I heard she's already guaranteeing a win."

Yang shook her head and chuckled at the gossip, which was not-at-all surprising to her.

"Of course she is. She does every year."

While looking away from Nora, Yang's gaze again landed and stayed on Blake - whose brow was currently furrowed while reading what must be an intense or concerning scene. Whatever was happening in the book, Yang really wanted to find out - if only so she knew the cause of the expression.

Following Yang's gaze, Nora again tapped her shoulder and brought her jarring back to reality.

"Are you gonna invite her?"

"Uh, I mean, I'm sure she's heard about it," Yang sputtered while forcing a nonchalant shrug. "She can come if she wants."

"Do it - doooo it, Yang! You have to invite her personally!"

"I don't want her to feel like she _has_ to -"

"Well _you_ have to," Nora interrupted. "I won't practice until you do." Crossing her arms over her chest, Nora nodded once in defiance.

"Come on, Nora -"

"Nope! I'm waiting!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Blake stand up - and Nora's eyes immediately widened.

"Come on, before she leaves!" she said while shoving Yang towards the edge of the ring. As Blake walked down the bleacher steps, Yang looked at Nora - who ushered her forward - before taking a deep breath and turning back to Blake.

"Blake!" she called out, ducking out of the ring and meeting Blake when she reached the gym floor.

"Hey," Yang said with a grin that Blake returned.

"Hey."

For a few seconds, the two of them just stood there while Yang tried to decide if she should bother asking. It wasn't like Blake _had_ to come to any sporting events, but if she was going to be hanging around anyway...Yang wouldn't mind if there was an extra person spectating. It might actually be a good opportunity to show off a little bit.

"So uh...I don't know if you're interested in boxing, but we have our first match Thursday…"

When Yang's half-invitation trailed off, Blake nodded. "I've heard. Everyone seems excited about it. Even Weiss said she's going."

"Weiss is only going because Ruby will be there." Understanding the newfound obviousness of that statement, Yang rolled her eyes. How had it taken her so long to catch on? "But, um...I wanted to invite you. Personally. If you don't have anything else to do."

Probably the worst invitation ever, but Blake smiled while considering it.

"I don't know that I'm a huge fan of boxing...but maybe you can convince me otherwise."

"So you'll come?" Yang asked, feeling a wave of excitement and hopefulness rush through her veins. The feeling only amplified when Blake nodded.

"I'll be there."

"Great!" Hitting her gloves together, Yang couldn't stop a big smile from appearing. "It'll be fun!"

"If you're there, I'm sure it will be."

Yang's cheeks flushed at the compliment, and she couldn't think of anything else to say while they stood there. It felt like Blake didn't want to walk away, and Yang certainly didn't want to either. After shuffling her feet, a question popped into her mind that made her heart flutter like crazy. But she was going to ask. She was absolutely going to ask.

"And maybe, if you're free, we could...I dunno...hang out after?"

Yang's cheeks hit critical heat while waiting for Blake's response, which was preceded by a pleased smile.

"Sure. I'd love to…'hang out.'"

"That's great," Yang replied, grinning like an idiot while Blake finally turned to leave.

"I'm sure it will be. See you tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, see ya!"

Standing on the gym floor, Yang stared after Blake like a lovestruck idiot - her heart beating wildly at the short interaction that just happened. Blake was going to watch her box. And afterward, they'd hang out - just the two of them spending time together without that pesky school bell always ending their conversations.

It wasn't until Blake disappeared from view that Yang raced back to practice.

"Sooo what'd she say?" Nora asked as soon as Yang clambered back into the ring.

"She said she'd be there." Yang's grin widened when Nora beamed and pounded one fist into her shoulder in a rough congratulations.

"See? Told you! Except we should probably make sure she sits where you can't stare at her…"

"What? How do you -"

"Only _everyone_ notices, Yang," Nora interrupted, dropping her hands and rolling her eyes as if that was the most obvious statement in the world.

"Everyone?" Yang repeated while her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. Had she really been that obvious?

"Yeah! The new girls asked if she's your girlfriend. I said yes." Giggling at the lie, Nora knocked her gloves together while Yang sighed.

"Of course you did…"

Did she mind? Not really. Unless that somehow got back to Blake, in which case she was going to have to pummel Nora a bit.

"But now she can cheer you on while you dip and duck and knock Salem across town!" Dipping and ducking herself, Nora then swung a wild hook that spun her in a complete circle. "Oh! And after you win, she can give you a congratulations kiss!"

"Nora!" Yang exclaimed, feeling her cheeks grow substantially warmer.

"What?" Nora asked, raising her gloved hands in feigned innocence. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do with your girlfriend?"

"She's not -! Just -! Let's finish up so we can go home," Yang finally said, her cheeks a raging fire at the moment.

 _Maybe_ it would be _over the moon_ _awesome_ if that happened. Salem High had a pretty good boxing program - wouldn't it be worth a small reward if Yang won for Vale High? Not that she considered that a small reward - that was a _huge_ reward.

Shaking her head in an attempt to dislodge those thoughts, she raised her gloves and focused instead on Nora - who was an excellent distraction. After bumping their fists together, she bounced back on her toes and waited for the inevitable onslaught.

Left hook, right, uppercut, jab, jab - Nora's idea of a combination was throwing everything in as short of a time as possible. With the power behind her blows, allowing any of them to connect would result in a large amount of pain tomorrow, which meant that Yang practiced her defensive positioning while dodging and deflecting the blows one at a time.

Deep breaths. Remain calm and focused. Watch Nora's arms and eyes for clues as to what was coming next.

When Nora projected a right-handed jab too early, Yang pounced on the opportunity. Spinning to the left, she felt the wind behind Nora's fist blow across her cheek while Nora took a step forward to match. Stomping one foot into the ground to spring herself to a sudden stop, Yang reached forward, wrapped her arms underneath Nora's, and lifted up. Clamping her arms tightly, Yang held on while Nora temporarily struggled against the firm hold - which was about as easy as trying to hold onto a fish with her bare hands.

"Ugh…" Nora finally exhaled while dropping her arms to her side. "You got me."

Satisfied that Nora had been corralled, Yang released her hold and took a quick step away in case a retaliation was coming. But Nora just turned around with a grin and unstrapped one glove with her teeth.

"That was good!" Yang remarked before taking off her gloves and tossing them out of the ring.

"Alright everyone, let's wrap up," Coach Ironwood called out. Ducking through the ropes, Yang and Nora joined the rest of their team while Coach ended practice. "Good job today. I'll see you tomorrow for a short practice before Salem on Thursday."

When he turned to leave and everyone began talking amongst themselves, Yang gathered her belongings and drank about half a bottle of water on her walk to the locker room. Taking her time changing back into clean, dry clothes, she made sure to throw in some extra stretches before finally deeming her day done.

"Make sure to stretch!" she ordered some of the new girls, who were chatting to each other while hurrying out of the locker room. They turned around and gave her a thumbs up before racing away, in a big rush to head home. "They're going to regret that tomorrow…" she muttered to herself while grabbing her bag and heading back into the gym.

Sitting on the bleachers, she watched the volleyball team wrap up before the track team steamed inside and filled the locker rooms. Tuesday was nearly over, and what an eventful day it had been. She'd run the gamut of emotions - wanting to punch Cardin in the face, helping Penny fix her project, skipping class with Blake, and then...asking Blake to come watch Thursday.

And Blake said yes.

Yang still had a goofy grin set on her face when Pyrrha appeared from the locker room and walked over to say hello. But instead of 'hello,' Pyrrha asked, "What are you grinning about?"

"Thursday's gonna be awesome," was the simplest answer Yang could give while standing up and grabbing her bag. The idea of Blake watching the match made her nervous but excited at the same time.

Pyrrha, however, looked at her like she was crazy.

"You realize you're fighting Emerald on Thursday, right?"

The question made Yang's grin immediately fall into a scowl.

"I know. But she's never beaten me, so it's all good!"

"She's never _legally_ beaten you," Pyrrha clarified. "Because she always disqualifies herself doing something horrendously illegal."

Reminded of their previous matches, Yang scrunched up her nose. Emerald was the worst fighter - vicious in an uncontrollable way. Yang was convinced that as soon as Emerald graduated she would become a serial killer or assassin or something. And she _knew_ that the girl was an awful bully, even to her own teammates.

It was lucky that they went to different schools. Otherwise, they'd get into fights all the time. However, Yang considered herself fortunate to have the opportunity to throw a few legal punches as payback for whatever Emerald did at school that Yang didn't see. And, luckily, having Salem on the schedule early in the year meant they could get the worst match over with and move on.

But still. Blake was going to be there. Emerald or no Emerald, it would be a great day. And then after…

"Oh my god."

Concerned by Yang's exclamation, Pyrrha looked around as if something was out of place.

"What?"

"What? Pyrrha, I asked Blake to hang out with me after the match!" Grabbing Pyrrha's arm, Yang gave it several shakes. "What are we going to do?"

"You finally asked her out?" Pyrrha asked, her smile a little smug for Yang's liking.

"No, I said 'hang out' - I'm sure of it."

"Then what's the big deal? Don't we 'hang out' all the time?"

Looking at Pyrrha and thinking about the question, Yang wrinkled her nose.

"Ok, I get that you're really into her, but you don't need to give me _that_ face," Pyrrha replied while gently shoving Yang's shoulder.

"But what are we gonna do?" Yang asked again.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Or you could ask her what she wants to do."

"Hey Pyrrha!"

Yang and Pyrrha both turned as Jaune jogged over to them.

"I just wanted to thank you for all of your help," he said. "Coach just told me that I might be able to race sometime this year!"

"Oh that's wonderful to hear!" Pyrrha replied with a big smile.

"All thanks to you. I really can't thank you enough," he said with that goofy grin of his. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

While Pyrrha's eyes followed Jaune away, Yang gave her friend a knowing smirk and nudged her shoulder.

"I can think of one way he could _thank you_ ," Yang teased.

Instead of blushing like usual, however, Pyrrha sighed - and Yang's smile immediately fell. It was only fun to tease Pyrrha about Jaune if she laughed in return. If she was actually feeling down about this...

But the moment passed as quickly as it appeared, and soon Pyrrha smiled again.

"Here comes your sister," she commented while nodding towards the locker rooms. "I'll see you in the morning!"

With a cheerful wave, Pyrrha left Yang behind while gracefully heading out of the gym.

"Hey Yang!" Ruby called out while Yang watched Pyrrha leave. "I'm ready to go!"

"Ok kiddo." She reached out to try to rustle Ruby's hair, but Ruby dodged quickly out of the way. "Another day done!"

" _Thankfully_ ," Ruby sighed in relief. "Today was _long._ "

"Then let's get home, huh?" Holding open one of the gym doors, Yang waited for Ruby to skip through.

"Oh hey, I met a friend of yours today," Yang added when they stepped out into the sun.

"Really? Who?"

"I'll give you a hint...he's small, green, and says 'ribbit.'"

"Freddy?" Ruby exclaimed. "How's he doing?"

"He's still a frog living in a freshman's backpack," Yang answered, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of that statement. "So I guess he's doing great?"

"I'm going to ask to see him the next time I see Trevor…" Ruby mused while they made their way home.

Ruby missed the smile Yang sent her way - one that was grateful for the kind, accepting person she'd become. Just like Blake, Ruby dealt with some pretty mean kids growing up. And, just like Blake, Ruby somehow used the experience to become a better person than any of those bullies could dream of being.

Wrapping her arm around Ruby's shoulders, Yang pulled her sister into a sideways hug and kissed the side of her head.

"Love you!"

"Love you too!" Ruby replied without hesitation, blinding Yang with one of those way-too-bright smiles yet again.

As their home came into view, Yang felt warmth and happiness spread from her heart. Thinking about the type of person Ruby had become, and the type of person Blake was, made all the trouble worth it.


	12. Chapter 12

"Morning Dad!" Yang called out while running into the kitchen to snag a bagel from the bread drawer. With breakfast in hand, she kissed him on the temple before flying out of the room.

"When are you going to stop waking up so early?" he shouted after her. "You're freaking me out."

"New year, Dad!" Ruby yelled back while pulling on her shoes and throwing on her backpack. "New Yang!"

While Ruby giggled at the phrase, Yang grabbed her sister's shoulder and led them outside. At least, she _tried_ to lead them outside.

"Hold on!"

Groaning at the delay, Yang dropped her arm while Ruby rushed towards the kitchen with a happy laugh. The instant their dad appeared in the doorway, Ruby barreled into him for a hug - knocking him back a step as he tried to keep his balance.

" _Every day_ , Dad?" Yang whined, tapping a foot on the floor.

Ignoring Yang's impatience, Dad hugged Ruby and lifted her feet right off the floor before swinging her around in a circle. Ruby's squeal of happiness melted Yang's irritation and forced her to smile. Something about Ruby being so happy made it impossible to be annoyed - damn her.

Setting Ruby on the ground, Dad held onto her shoulders while she looked up at him with a big grin.

"Are you going to have a good day?" he asked, earning an enthusiastic nod in response.

"I am! And I'll do my best to learn nothing!"

Yang cringed when Ruby repeated their sisterly motto right to Dad's face - and of course he immediately shook his head at her.

"Uh...kids say the darndest things, don't they Dad?" she chuckled while pulling Ruby towards the front door. "Pretty sure she meant we'll do our best to learn _everything!_ "

When he laughed and shook his head, Yang raced out the door with Ruby on her heels.

"Jeez, Ruby," she huffed after they made it a safe distance away. "Way to spill the beans to Dad!"

"But he sees our report cards!"

"Yes, which means he knows there's room for improvement!"

When Ruby's reply was nothing but a giggle, Yang shook her head and picked up the pace. They didn't need to run to school, but if they speed-walked, they'd make it there even faster. And every minute saved on their walk equaled another minute Yang could spend in homeroom before the day started.

That thought pretty much proved that the world now spun in the opposite direction.

"Are you gonna skip lunch again today?" Ruby asked, easily matching Yang's brisk pace.

"Not planning on it," Yang answered before giving Ruby a sideways glance. "Why?"

The way Ruby shrugged was a dead giveaway that the reason wasn't 'nothing' like she was about to say.

"No reason! Just curious."

Narrowing her eyes, Yang tried to figure out where the question came from. Yesterday was Tuesday...she and Blake missed lunch because they were helping Penny rebuild her cardboard house. That left just Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha at lunch.

But it was Tuesday, so Pyrrha was helping Jaune!

"You liked eating alone with Weiss?" Yang teased, gently elbowing Ruby in the side. "You got her attention alllll to yourself?"

"That's not it!" Ruby protested before puffing out her cheeks. A soft blush appeared, but she did her best to hide it. "It was nice to have all the space at the table! I had an entire seat where I could put my tray!"

"Uh huh…"

No way was Yang falling for that sorry excuse. Ruby and Weiss ate lunch alone together, and they'd probably flirted up a horribly-awkward storm without anyone around to witness it.

"Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I plan on being there today," Yang added. Although she wouldn't mind skipping class with Blake any day of the week. It started off pretty lousy with Cardin ruining Penny's project, but working together to fix it and then getting lunch had thoroughly wiped the bad taste from her mouth. If anything, she looked back on yesterday positively. It was a great day!

"I like eating lunch with you, Yang!" The way Ruby skipped forward only underscored the honesty of that statement, while also adding to her general cuteness. "I also like getting to school early!"

"You do?" Yang asked as they fell into matching step towards the building.

"Yeah! Weiss gets there early too, so now I can hang out with her in the morning!"

Concealing a grin, Yang nodded and said, "Oh yeah. Totally forgot Weiss gets there early. Does she hide out in the library?"

"You bet! And I'm allowed to sit with her if I'm reallyyyyy quiet."

The image of Ruby attempting to sit quietly while Weiss worked made Yang laugh. If someone convinced Ruby to be quiet, she'd find another way to express that never-ending stream of energy - mainly, by fidgeting. It probably drove Weiss crazy how fast Ruby's knee could bounce up and down. Yet...she still accepted Ruby's presence.

"She's lucky to have you! There to keep her company," Yang replied. The last part was thrown in a little late, but a sideways glance proved that Ruby was none the wiser. Instead, she wore this silly grin while walking up to the front entrance of school.

Someday, Yang would have to come right out and ask - 'Do you like Weiss? And don't say you don't because I already know you do.' It didn't feel like Ruby was ready to bring it up just yet, but that was now _two_ comments on their short walk about how much she liked spending time with Weiss. How much more obvious could it get?

Seriously though, Weiss was lucky. But Yang had a sneaky suspicion that Weiss already knew just how lucky she was to have captured Ruby's attention. Maybe that suspicion was based on the fact that if she ever took Ruby for granted, she'd find herself on the business end of one of Yang's fists. Or maybe she was just smart enough to understand how incredible Ruby was - a pure soul who wanted nothing but the best for everyone around her.

Leaning her shoulder into the door, Yang held it open for Ruby while they walked into the nearly-empty entryway. A few other students milled around the lobby area, but again they beat the rush. The second they walked inside, however, Ruby grew noticeably antsy to see her favorite surly student again.

"Say 'hi' to Weiss for me."

As soon as Yang said the words, Ruby hopped once in excitement before speed-walking towards the library.

"I will!" came the happy reply before Ruby disappeared around the corner with a last-second grin and wave sent back to Yang.

Shaking her head at Ruby's unmistakable delight, Yang hurried towards her own classroom, where her own genius friend would hopefully be waiting for her.

Wait a second. Ruby had a crush on the smartest girl in school...and Yang _also_ had a crush on the smartest girl in school. Fortunately, they weren't the same person, but the parallels were pretty ironic! Apparently, their family had a thing for intelligence.

"Hey Yang!" someone called out to her as she sped down the halls.

"Hey!" she said, turning to wave before racing past one of her teammates. "See you at practice!"

Under ordinary circumstances, she'd stop and chat, but they'd see each other this afternoon and could catch up then. Right now, Yang really wanted to get to class so she could see one of her new favorite people.

"Hey, Blake! Good morning!"

All smiles the instant she walked through the door, she claimed her customary spot in front of Blake's desk while Blake closed her book and smiled in return.

"Good morning, Yang. Glad to see you're chipper today."

"What's not to be happy about? It's Wednesday and we're at school!"

Last year, _neither_ of those things were worth being happy about - a fact Blake seemed to acknowledge with a perfectly-arched eyebrow and hidden smile.

"Thanks again for yesterday," Yang added before she was called out on that little fib. "You really helped...I mean, I had a great day."

"I'm glad you did. I had a great day too."

While the two of them smiled at each other, Yang felt the rising desire to tell Blake how big of a role _she_ played in the amazing day. Not just helping Penny and having lunch together, but also agreeing to come to the match tomorrow and hang out after. All of that culminated in a perfect day with just a small dose of Cardin Winchester thrown in.

And now they had a date to plan. It was a date, kind of, right?

"Hey, so -" Yang began to ask before her eyes were drawn to Penny skipping into the classroom.

"Yang!" Penny exclaimed with a huge smile while heading over to them. "And Blake! My teacher loved our project! He said it gets an A plus!"

It was impossible not to smile when Penny was so happy about the news.

"That's great, Penny!"

"They're going to display the best ones in the school lobby!" Penny added. "I hope ours is picked!"

"I'm sure it will be!" Yang replied while raising one hand, which Penny gleefully slapped for a high-five before bouncing over to her desk.

Even if they _had_ gotten in trouble for skipping class, that moment would've made it completely worth any punishment. And one look at Blake confirmed she felt the same.

As soon as Penny's last words sank in, however, Yang's mouth dropped open in dismay.

"Wait - in the lobby? Uhhh…"

Turning towards Penny, Yang found the girl humming to herself while pulling notebooks from her bag and arranging them on top of her desk. Yang didn't want to rain on Penny's parade, but…

"Blake," she whispered, leaning across the desk so Penny couldn't overhear. "The _entire_ _school_ is going to see the cardboard versions of us in bed together."

"And?" Blake asked, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "I think it'll do a lot more for my street cred than your own."

Yang immediately laughed at the response.

"'Street cred?' Have you ever said that before?"

"Not once," Blake replied with a shake of her head and a smile. "Did I even use it right?"

"I think so? But I don't really have any so...if anything, this is probably gonna hurt your reputation!"

When Blake giggled, Yang smiled. She really, really loved it when Blake laughed. Somehow, the sound lifted her heart in a way very few other sounds could do. Her eyes only lifted away from Blake when she noticed Pyrrha walk into the room. Well, it _kind of_ looked like Pyrrha, but there was this determined air about her that seemed a bit foreign…

"Hey Pyrrha," Yang said when her friend neared. Instead of walking to her seat like usual, however, Pyrrha dragged over a chair to join them.

"Yang, I'd like your advice on something."

Yeah, this wasn't Pyrrha. This was bizarro-Pyrrha.

"Sure!" Yang replied anyway. "What is it?"

Pyrrha's gaze flitted to Blake, as if she was a little uncomfortable with Blake overhearing whatever she had to say, but the determination won out and she continued anyway.

"It's... _relationship_ related," Pyrrha explained, lowering her voice like that was top-secret information.

 _Finally!_ The stars must have aligned, because this was the day Yang had waited a long, long time for.

"Then you've come to the right person!" she replied with a big grin. "I'm the master of relationships!"

The boast may have gone a little overboard because Pyrrha gave her a look of disbelief.

"Since we've known each other, how many relationships have you been in?"

Cheeks insta-flushing, Yang shot a glance towards Blake - who was, of course, listening very, _very_ intently to the sudden turn this conversation had taken.

"Uh...well...you already know the answer to that..."

"Right. None," Pyrrha said before giving Blake a winning smile. "It's none by the way, Blake. In case you were curious."

"Pyrrha!" Yang shouted in dismay, immediately reaching an atomic level of embarrassment when Blake gave her a look of surprise.

"I just thought she'd like to know," Pyrrha replied in a not-so-innocent whisper. "It's not like it's a big secret, is it?"

Feeling Blake's gaze return to her, Yang searched for the right thing to say that wouldn't make it sound like she'd been _hiding_ the information. But she also didn't want to look super naive or something.

"It's - just -" was all she managed to say before shaking her head and resisting the urge to bury her burning cheeks in her hands. "What advice do you need?" she asked instead, hoping the change in subject would take some of the attention away from her.

"Ok, I wanted to ask you for advice because you're my friend and you're good at talking to people," Pyrrha said before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. "So...if you were to ask a boy out...how would you - or how might you do that?"

Regardless of her current level of embarrassment, Yang managed to laugh at the question.

"Well personally, I wouldn't. But if I were to ask a certain blonde-haired goofball out…" Trailing off, she thought about the question carefully - knowing that Pyrrha was _finally_ coming to her for help and deserved a serious answer. And knowing what she did about Jaune...

"I'd be really forward about it," she replied when she figured out what she would do if she were in Pyrrha's situation. "He doesn't seem like the type to take hints very well."

"So you mean...explicitly ask?"

"Yes, ask him flat out. And don't look so worried, Pyrrha!" Reaching out, Yang lightly slapped Pyrrha's arm to erase the worried expression that just appeared. "He'd be crazy to say 'no.'"

"I suppose…" Pyrrha mumbled, although the way she bit her bottom lip suggested she was still unsure about going through with this. And Yang couldn't stand the thought of Pyrrha being upset about this boy any longer. Of all people, Pyrrha deserved to be happy.

"Do you want me to ask him for you? Because I'll totally do that for you! And then I can immediately knock his lights out if he even _thinks_ about saying 'no.'"

"As kind as that offer is…" Pyrrha replied with a small smile. "I should do this myself. If I can figure out what to say…"

When Blake shifted in her seat, she drew their attention. Looking a little tentative about joining the conversation, Blake opened and closed her mouth but only spoke when Pyrrha smiled and nodded.

"Maybe you can ask him to go somewhere that you don't normally go," Blake suggested. "Maybe someplace the two of you have talked about wanting to go before? And make sure to use the word 'date' - that way he knows it's something special."

Yang almost grimaced at Blake's recommendation - which was great advice, but the word 'date' was _definitely_ not used when she asked Blake to 'hang out.' She'd hardly been able to ask Blake to 'hang out' - no way she could've said the word 'date' out loud.

Ok, she needed to correct that mistake later. She wouldn't refer to it as a 'hanging out' again. She would call it a date so Blake would understand her feelings. And maybe Blake would change her mind and not want to spend time together anymore, but at least Yang would've been clear with her intentions!

So...date - yes. Hang out - no.

"Thank you, Blake," Pyrrha responded, appearing genuinely appreciative of the suggestions. "That's really good advice. We've actually talked about how neither of us can ice skate, so maybe I can suggest the new rink that opened across town…"

"That sounds like a great first date," Blake reassured Pyrrha with a kind smile. "Definitely something I would enjoy."

When Pyrrha let out a small sigh and looked moderately relieved, Mr. Oobleck stormed into the room and signaled the impending start of class. Quickly setting their chairs back in order, Yang gave Blake a thumbs up and silent 'thank you' before following Pyrrha across the room.

"So are you gonna do it?" Yang whispered while she and Pyrrha took their seats.

"I think...I'll think about it," Pyrrha hedged before sighing. "I guess I just don't want to spend the entire year wondering 'what if.'"

"You should totally ask." When Pyrrha turned to her with a questioning expression, Yang gave her an encouraging smile in return. "I'm one hundred percent sure he likes you too. The hardest part is just getting those feelings out there."

"We're not all as open as you, Yang," Pyrrha replied in a soft voice while Mr. Oobleck wrote something on the board. "We don't all wear our hearts on our sleeve."

Even though Yang smiled at the response, she felt her embarrassment return.

What Pyrrha didn't know was that Yang was every bit as scared about being rejected. It was so easy to believe that her feelings were one-sided - because how could Blake have even a fraction of these feelings in return? And if she did, how was she not acting like an obsessive idiot like Yang had been the past few days?

Instead of getting into any of that at the moment, she gave Pyrrha's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaning back in her seat as class started.

"Good morning!" Mr. Oobleck shouted towards them, gesturing with one hand and accidentally throwing a piece of chalk across the room. Undisturbed, he grabbed another piece from the board and continued speaking. "I have several updates today - so listen up!"

Drumming her fingers on top of her desk, Yang stifled a soft sigh when she thought about Pyrrha's plight. Hopefully, she'd find the courage to ask Jaune out on a date - although Yang had recently learned from experience that it was harder to do than one would think. So hard, in fact, that she'd taken the easy way out and ducked the idea entirely.

Maybe Pyrrha shouldn't take any of Yang's advice. After all, it wasn't like she had a ton of experience -

The instant the thought appeared in her mind, her fingertips froze on top of her desk and her blush returned full force.

Pyrrha just told Blake about her dating history! Or lack thereof.

Unable to even look at Blake due to the sheer amount of embarrassment, Yang stared at her desk and drew a ball of squiggly lines on her notebook while stewing in humiliation.

What did Blake think about that information? It wasn't like Yang was hiding it or anything - it just hadn't come up! And it's not like she never had the _opportunity_...it was more like she never decided to take it. The feelings were never there. Until now, of course.

Maybe Blake got all of that from the few words Pyrrha said. Alternatively, maybe she thought something was horribly wrong with Yang if no one had ever wanted to date her.

She needed to clear that up later, but she also needed to get Pyrrha's confidence up so there'd be some movement on the Jaune front. If Yang caught sad Pyrrha anywhere near school again, the sun would probably stop shining and they'd spend the rest of the year in the dark. Not exactly how Yang wanted to finish up high school.

Looking up from her doodles only when the bell rang, she didn't jump out of her seat like she wanted to. Instead, she lingered and waited for Pyrrha - who immediately noticed her dawdling and laughed.

"I appreciate your sacrifice, Yang, but I'm fine. And if you start treating me any differently, I'm going to overthink it and psych myself out, so please don't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Pyrrha nodded and laughed again, her eyes sparkling. Convinced that the real Pyrrha had finally shown up, Yang grinned and grabbed her bag.

"Great! Then prepare yourself for more teasing at lunch!" she replied before running over to meet Blake by the door.

"Can't wait," Pyrrha said with a light laugh that lifted Yang's spirits.

Knowing that Pyrrha felt better made Yang feel like a million bucks. Well, a little less than a million bucks when she remembered what Pyrrha told Blake earlier…

"Ready?" Blake asked, waiting for Yang's nod before they walked into the hallway shoulder-to-shoulder. As usual, the hall was filled with students heading in every which direction, interspersed with the sounds of voices talking overtop of one another and lockers opening and closing.

They hadn't walked more than a few feet before Blake said, "So…"

Yang immediately groaned at the unspoken question, which she'd already known was coming.

"Yes," she admitted, not seeing any way out of this other than the truth. "What Pyrrha said was true."

"Really?" Blake asked, looking especially shocked by the confirmation.

"Yup. Why? Do I give off that type of vibe?" When Blake shrugged one shoulder, Yang cringed. "Don't answer that!" she added. She knew she could be a little flirty sometimes, but that was mostly to get people to agree with what she wanted them to do!

Laughing at the response, Blake didn't seem at all disgruntled by the news. If anything, she seemed pretty thrilled to hear it.

"You're full of surprises."

Biting her lip, Yang glanced at Blake out of the corner of her eye while her embarrassment faded away. It helped that Blake had taken the admission remarkably well. If anything, it felt like Blake had taken the information as _good_ news.

When they stopped at Blake's locker, Yang watched Blake spin the dial to enter the combination before pulling open the door. Now that her past was out in the open, Yang burned with curiosity to learn more about Blake's.

"But...uh, what about you?" she managed to ask before convincing herself out of it.

Closing the locker door, Blake straightened her shoulders and flashed a smile.

"Nope."

"Are you serious?" Yang asked in disbelief while following Blake away from the locker. "How is that even possible? Have you seen yourself?"

Briefly turning away from the questions, Blake trained her eyes forward as they squeezed through the crowded hall.

"I've always had an idea of the type of person I'd like to be with," she explained. "But you never really know until you meet them, right?"

It was only after reaching her classroom that Blake met Yang's gaze and smiled.

And _every single part_ of her wanted to ask what type of person Blake was looking for, but a small, tiny cell was worried that she wouldn't fit that mold. What were the chances that Blake was looking for a tall, blonde boxer with a penchant for oversleeping?

"Someone like Weiss, huh," Yang teased, nodding over Blake's shoulder as Weiss approached them. Glancing in that direction, Blake let out a soft laugh and shook her head.

"Not even close."

Yang beamed at the answer, which made her feel like she still had a chance. Because who was less like Weiss than her?

"You gave Pyrrha some good advice though," she added. "Thanks for that. She really needs the encouragement."

"Happy to help. And I actually read about it in a story once. Sometimes you need to tell someone flat out that you like them, otherwise you spend too much time in this weird quasi-friends, quasi-more-than-friends stage."

From the way Blake looked at her after that comment, Yang almost felt like the instruction was meant for her. Did that mean she should tell Blake how she felt right now? In the middle of the hall? What was she supposed to say? Well, besides 'I really, _really_ like you?'

"Good morning," Weiss said while joining them, ending whatever moment they'd been sharing.

"Oh, hey Weiss!" Yang sputtered, her cheeks flushing while she attempted to clear away the thoughts she'd just been having. "How's it going? How're you doing? Doing pretty good?"

For a second, Weiss just stared, looking very much like she might ignore the questions entirely.

"What's wrong with you?" she replied instead.

"What? Nothing! Just wondering how you're doing this fine day."

"But why are you always so cheerful?" Weiss clarified, eyeing Yang suspiciously. "It's like you have some type of hormonal imbalance. Maybe you have an enlarged limbic lobe..."

"What?" Yang asked. It _sounded_ like an insult, but was it?

"I think it's charming," Blake said, smiling as she reached out and touched Yang's elbow. The smile lit Yang's face faster than untangled lights on a Christmas tree, but Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I guess idiocy can have its charm…" she muttered to herself.

When the two smartest girls in the school turned their full attention back to her, Yang grinned sheepishly. Weiss looked like she was trying to figure out what made her tick, while Blake was...well, she liked the way Blake was looking at her much better.

"I...guess I'll leave you two to do all the learning!" she joked with a nervous chuckle. Backing away, she grinned fully at Blake before heading to her own class.

"You two spend a lot of time together," she overheard Weiss comment as soon as she left, but only heard Blake give a soft "mhmm" in response before both were out of earshot.

Knowing Weiss, she probably followed that up with another dig at Yang's lack of intelligence. Not that Yang cared right now! She'd just learned something unexpected about Blake - and it was unexpectedly exciting to know. Not that it would've been a huge deal if there was a different answer to that question, but...this felt better in a lot of ways. At least Yang didn't need to worry about any crazy ex-boyfriends!

Almost to the classroom, she caught a glimpse of Cardin walking towards her and glowered at the memory of yesterday. The instant he saw her, however, he spun on his heel and took off in the other direction so their paths wouldn't cross.

Well good. If he was scared, he'd think long and hard before doing something like that again.

Slipping into her class and finding her seat, Yang opened a notebook and wrote down the first thing that came to mind.

Ice skating.

Staring at the two words, she hardly heard the teacher start class while her mind pondered the significance of wanting to remember that particular idea.

The answer was pretty easy to find. She wanted to remember that Blake wanted to go ice skating because she wanted to take Blake there - on a date. A real, official date that both of them agreed was a date.

What were other dates Yang could suggest? Because she didn't want to go on just one. She was thinking _many_.

What about a library? Although, if she had to guess, Blake probably knew all of the libraries like the back of her hand. But a scavenger hunt in one of the public libraries might be fun! It would just take Yang a while to plan. And she'd never tried to plan anything like that, so it might take _extra_ long, but it'd definitely be worth it.

Dinner was also a good option, but she needed to figure out what types of places Blake liked to eat at.

Or what about watching the film versions of her favorite books? Then they could either marvel at how good they were or laugh at how bad they were...although that meant Yang also needed to figure out what Blake's favorite books were, and then find them and read them.

With a decent list of ideas growing, she happily spent the rest of her morning classes trying to come up with more - which also entailed going through every bit of information she'd learned about Blake so far. And they still needed to plan their 'hang out' for tomorrow!

That term sounded stupider every time she thought about it. What was she thinking? 'Hang out?' What were they, twelve?

Ok, at lunch she would ask Blake what they should do tomorrow after the boxing match. And she would try her hardest to slip in the word 'date' like Blake suggested. Hopefully, Blake wouldn't hear the word and change her mind. If she did, at least Yang could get her broken heart out of the way early in the year.

As soon as the bell rang for lunch, she zipped out of her class and raced through the halls away from the cafeteria. Cutting across to the A-wing, she quickly made it to Blake's classroom - which was already empty - but then she spotted Blake up ahead. Jogging the last few steps, she was only mildly panting for breath when she fell into stride by Blake's side.

"Hey there."

This time, Blake hardly looked surprised by Yang's presence.

"Hey," she replied softly. "I see you've found me again."

"I'm always lookin'!" Yang quipped with a big grin - until she heard how that had sounded. "Uh, I mean...you know…"

There was _no_ recovering from that statement - something Blake made even clearer with her pleased laugh and knowing smile.

"I don't mind," Blake replied while they joined the crowd of students entering the line for food in the cafeteria.

"Really?"

Shaking her head, Blake accepted the tray Yang handed to her.

"I actually really enjoy it."

After staring for a good few seconds, Yang shook herself out of that spell when Blake nodded for her to move forward in line.

Had Blake just given her permission to stare though?

Had Blake just admitted that she _liked_ when Yang stared?

Clearing her throat and sliding her tray forward, Yang searched for the words she wanted to say next.

"So...uh, is there anything special you want to do tomorrow?" she asked, risking a sideways glance at Blake. "After the match is over? If you still wanna hang out, I mean."

She immediately cringed at the term, but Blake didn't seem to notice.

"Well, I imagine you might be hungry…"

"Oh yeah," Yang replied with a laugh. "I'm usually starving."

"Is there something you typically eat afterward?"

"Ruby and I normally stop by that burger place, and I'll get -" Right before spouting out her order, she stopped and blushed. "I...I, uh, order something totally healthy!" she concluded.

It was an obvious lie, and Blake knew it.

"Come on; what is it?" Blake prodded, playfully nudging Yang in the side and making her blush harder.

"I order two double cheeseburgers but ask them to put all the stuff inside just one bun," Yang admitted. "Plus a huge order of fries with melted cheese on top. And a chocolate shake."

While they accepted their healthy-by-comparison lunches of steamed carrots and meatloaf, Blake chuckled - clearly pleased with the admission.

"Then that's what we should do first. I don't want you to break routine for me."

After paying for lunch, Yang waited on the other side of the line for Blake to catch up to her - content to stare in the meantime. Which she'd just been given permission to do, so...

"Ok," she agreed while they set out across the cafeteria, dodging chairs and students as they went. "Food for me, but what do _you_ want to do? How 'bout a movie?"

"That sounds like fun," Blake answered while setting her tray down on their table.

Dinner and a movie - that sounded an awful lot like a date. Now if only Yang could use the word...

"What type of movies do you like? I bet you're a romance type of girl," she teased, making Blake smile.

"Admittedly, yes. But I think I'd like to see whatever's the longest."

"The longest?" Yang asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Yes, whichever one takes the most time to view." Blake tried to hide a grin at the explanation that wasn't at all explaining what Yang was asking.

"You realize we're going to end up in some historical documentary or something, right?" she joked, to which Blake shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind that. Maybe we'll learn something about the history of Vale for your project."

As Blake's eyes sparkled in amusement, Yang blushed and looked down at her tray of food.

"Yeah, I still haven't started that," she mumbled before taking a bite to eat.

"Hey guys!" Ruby called out while she and Weiss joined them. "How's it going?"

"Better now that you're here," Yang replied while patting her sister's arm. When Ruby grinned and sat down, Yang looked around the cafeteria and found Pyrrha also headed over - but first, she made a quick stop to speak with one of the other members of the track team.

Wait. Was Blake saying she wanted to watch the longest movie because she wanted to spend the most time possible together? Glancing across the table, Yang tried to read Blake's mind and find the answer, which was just as impossible as it sounded.

"Hey Pyrrha," she said, turning her gaze away from Blake when Pyrrha finally sat down with them.

"Hello Yang. I'm glad you found your way to the cafeteria alright."

When Pyrrha grinned at her, Yang shook her head.

"I can't believe _that's_ the excuse you used for me missing class. Way to boost my intelligence."

Shrugging, Pyrrha turned to her lunch with a grin still set in place. Turning back to Blake, Yang shook her head again. At least the excuse worked, but was it a good thing that her teachers believed she could get lost leaving the cafeteria?

"Here you go," Weiss said softly, reaching across the table and dropping two cookies onto Ruby's tray.

"Thanks, Weiss! Wait...I thought you got an extra one because _you_ wanted it!"

The comment caught Yang's attention while Weiss straightened and waved one hand as if that would make the conversation disappear.

"I thought I wanted one, but I changed my mind," she replied easily. As expected, Ruby bought the line without question, but Yang shot Weiss a knowing grin.

So that's what Weiss was going to do now? Buy extra cookies at lunch and then pretend they weren't purchased expressly for Ruby's benefit? Didn't Weiss realize how see-through that was? Well, to everyone besides Ruby, apparently.

This situation called for a little bit of sisterly teasing. With Yang doing the teasing, of course.

Turning towards Ruby, Yang threw on her most innocently-curious expression.

"Hey, Ruby, who was that _gorgeous_ girl I saw you helping out at practice the other day?" she asked, smiling when she thought she heard Weiss' jaw snap shut. "You know, the tall one with the nice arms?"

Brow furrowing, Ruby looked confused by the description.

"Becca?"

"Yeah! Her. You two looked close." Glancing across the table, Yang found Blake watching Ruby with amusement while Weiss looked like she'd found a lemon in her meatloaf.

"I helped her with her foot placement!" Ruby answered cheerfully, completely unaware of what Yang was getting at. "She needs to lift her knees higher, but her feet are all outta whack."

Pretending like that explanation made sense, Yang nodded and winked at Weiss.

"You two looked cute together."

That did it. Weiss' eyes immediately narrowed to a glare, and Ruby flushed a deep shade of embarrassed red.

"W-what? Come on, Yang. It's not like that. We're teammates!"

"So? There's no rule against dating teammates - right Pyrrha?" Yang grinned when Pyrrha shook her head and looked like she wanted to disappear from the conversation, probably already regretting telling Yang to act like everything was normal. "If anything, it means you have something in common!"

"Yeah, but I don't _like_ her like that."

"How do you know?" After asking the question, Yang gasped in pretend shock. "Do you _already know_ what it's like to like someone... _like that?_ "

Under Yang's watchful gaze, Ruby opened and closed her mouth several times while sputtering like an adorable fish out of water.

"That's such a juvenile question," Weiss finally cut in - either coming to Ruby's aid or trying to change the subject, Yang wasn't sure.

"Is it?" she retorted, thrilled at having dragged Weiss into the conversation. "What about you, Weiss? Do _you_ like anyone _like that?_ "

"That's none of your business," was Weiss' snappy reply, which only made Yang laugh. She was enjoying using the phrase over and over again while producing deeper blushes each time. When she looked across the table at Blake, Blake smiled and shook her head at the shenanigans.

"What about you?" Weiss shot back, having regained enough of her composure to launch a counterattack. "Who do _you_ like, Yang?"

"That's easy! I like everyone!" With a big smile, Yang spread her arms wide to symbolize the entire world.

"What about that blue-haired boy who wouldn't stop badgering you - the one on the swim team?" Weiss asked instead, making Pyrrha laugh.

"Neptune? He's still after her too."

"Yes, Neptune," Weiss repeated with a pleased nod. "What about him?"

"Never happening," Yang replied with an easy shake of her head. If Weiss was trying to get to her, she'd have to do better than that!

"Oh! What about that new girl on the boxing team?" Ruby suddenly piped in. "You were telling me about her - how she's gonna be good? Heather?"

"Hannah?" Yang asked in disbelief, shooting a worried glance towards Blake. "She's a freshman! And I've only helped her out a little bit."

Ok, now this was getting out of control. Three against one probably wouldn't work out in her favor. Before she could wiggle out of the situation, however, Weiss stole one look at Blake before meeting Yang's eyes with a triumphant smirk.

"Well _whoever_ you end up liking," Yang said before Weiss could say anything. "I sure hope Dad likes 'em! You know how protective he can be. And me...well, you know I'm not gonna let just _anyone_ mess around with your heart."

Wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders, Yang pulled her sister close and rustled Ruby's hair while keeping her eyes on Weiss - whose vindication morphed into concern while watching the interaction unfold.

"Don't you think that's fair, Weiss?" Yang asked nicely. "I mean, I've gotta protect my baby sister from heartbreakers!"

Weiss stared and stared before finally breaking eye contact and shrugging.

"I'm sure Ruby can look after herself," she muttered, although there was much less conviction in those words.

Game, set, and match - Xiao Long!

Internally sighing in relief, Yang still tried to keep a low profile for the rest of lunch. From the look Weiss gave her, Yang had just lost the element of invincibility when it came to teasing. The last thing she wanted was for Weiss to blurt out something that she couldn't easily fix.

"Do you think they'll let me try the javelin again?" Ruby asked Pyrrha while polishing off the rest of Weiss' uneaten lunch.

"If you ask, I'm sure they will."

When the bell sounded, Ruby shot to her feet like her seat had suddenly caught on fire.

"Then that's what I'll do!" she exclaimed, grabbing the empty trays and racing around the table in the time it took Weiss to stand up. "Can I walk with you to class?"

"If you'd like," Weiss muttered in response, but Yang didn't miss the slight uptick in mood the question brought on.

"Shall we?" After pushing her chair back and standing up, Yang gestured to her two remaining companions.

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up." Quickly motioning towards a random table across the cafeteria, Pyrrha gave Yang a smile that clearly said this was only an excuse to let her have a moment with Blake. Which she was absolutely going to take.

Turning away from Pyrrha, Yang smiled and motioned towards the hallway.

"Blake?"

"After you," was Blake's reply as she stood and followed Yang out of the cafeteria.

"So...which one is Hannah?" Blake asked as they dropped their trays off near the exit.

"Uh...she's a little shorter than me, with brown hair?"

Pursing her lips at Yang's description, Blake nodded once.

"Got it."

"But you have nothing to worry about!" Yang immediately added. "I have _no_ interest in her whatsoever. Other than helping her become a better boxer."

The last thing Yang wanted was for Blake to think she had a crush on someone else - because that wasn't happening. Not while Blake was around.

Thankfully, Yang's reassurance seemed to perk Blake right back up, as one of those slow smiles started to grow.

"Are you worried? About me being worried?"

"I -"

Shoot. How was Yang supposed to answer that without giving everything away?

"I just don't want you to get the wrong impression, ya know? Me going after the freshmen on the team - that's not a very good image, right?"

It was hard to tell if Blake bought the answer, so Yang chuckled while running a hand through her hair - a bit of a bored, nervous, uncomfortable habit she had. The gesture caught Blake's eyes before she inexplicably frowned.

"Oh...I forgot to tell you that I need to go home right after school today."

The news was pretty disappointing, but with Blake looking so apologetic there was no way Yang was going to let her feel bad.

"That's totally ok. Sometimes things come up, right?"

"I'm sorry. My mom needs help with this thing -"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Yang interrupted with a reassuring grin. The last thing she wanted was for Blake to feel bad about helping out her family. Plus, it wasn't like they spent all afternoon together anyway. "I mean, I've got practice," she pointed out. "And I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning!"

For a few seconds, Blake studied Yang intently, as if trying to figure out whether or not she was telling the truth. Satisfied with whatever answer she found, Blake nodded once before turning towards her class. And it was right when Yang felt a pang of regret that Blake stopped and turned back.

"I'll miss watching your practice though."

Arrows. So many arrows were now sticking out of Yang's heart - she very nearly raised one hand to make sure she was still alright.

Somehow, she managed to let out a surprised chuckle.

"Do you actually watch? Every time I look up there, it looks like you're reading!"

The response made Blake hide a pleased grin.

"Am I?" she asked while backing away. "It's nice to know you're watching me though."

Yang's jaw dropped when Blake gave her a small wave and walked away, looking way too satisfied with what she just got Yang to admit. And Yang could only stare.

A hand landing on her shoulder made her jump in surprise, but she calmed down when she heard Pyrrha's musical laugh.

"You're lucky she doesn't mind you gawking at her," Pyrrha commented with another soft chuckle. "Otherwise you'd be in the principal's office by now."

Looking back, Yang caught one last glimpse of Blake before Pyrrha nudged her to start moving again.

"Come on. You can't skip class two days in a row."

Pyrrha was right about that, but if Yang _could_ skip class to spend time with Blake again, she would.

"So...when are you gonna ask Jaune out?" she asked as they left the cafeteria behind.

"When are you going to ask Blake out?" Pyrrha countered.

"Technically, I already have! Tomorrow night, remember?"

"Oh right...the infamous 'hang out.'"

"Hey, it's closer to a date than whatever you and Jaune are doing!"

"Well, aren't you feisty today?" Pyrrha replied with a delighted laugh. "It's not often we get to see you flustered."

"I'm not flustered. I'm...hooked."

That felt like the right word, and Pyrrha seemed to agree when she laughed as they hurried off to class. While this particular class _should_ be the most boring in the world, Yang didn't view it that way anymore - not when she had Blake to think about.

She still hadn't cleared up the whole 'hang out' versus 'date' snafu, but she could do that tomorrow before the match. Tomorrow would be the day. She didn't want to wait any longer to get these feelings out in the open.


	13. Chapter 13

Whistling a tune to herself, Yang jogged downstairs and dropped her backpack near the front door. With all the books she'd been forced to take home last night, plus her boxing gear, the bag was officially too heavy to lug around for any longer than necessary.

Strolling into the kitchen in search of food, she found her dad reading the paper while drinking a cup of coffee - basically, what he'd done every morning for the past decade.

"What's up, father figure?" she asked, walking behind him and tapping the top of his head while she passed.

"Was I demoted? I swear I've been fulfilling my duties perfectly…" he mumbled in return, setting the paper down and watching her rummage through the cabinets for breakfast.

"Actually, you were promoted! 'Father' is the default term every dad gets, but 'father figure' is someone with years of experience dealing with one difficult and one _beautiful_ daughter."

While Yang grinned at her clever response, he nodded along with the idea.

"A promotion, eh? Go _figure_."

When he winked at the joke, Yang laughed and raised one hand for a high five.

"Good one, Dad," she said before heading out of the kitchen, tossing the apple she'd found into the air before easily catching it. Back in the entryway, she found the pair of shoes she wanted to wear today and pulled them on before checking the contents of her backpack one more time.

Since she had a fight this afternoon, she woke up a little earlier than usual to make sure she had everything she needed. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she forgot something and had to run home to get it, but it was a lot less stressful if she had everything organized up front.

While checking items off of her mental checklist, she didn't bother looking over when Ruby practically rolled down the stairs.

"Got everything?" Ruby asked while stomping her feet into her shoes.

"Yup! Packed and ready to kick grass!"

The term made Ruby giggle, but Yang smiled sheepishly when their dad walked out of the kitchen shaking his head.

"The things you teach her…" he muttered to himself, kissing Ruby on the head before pulling Yang into a hug. "Sorry I won't be there today."

His words were remorseful, but Yang smiled and waved off his apology.

"We both know it's healthier for you to stay away. Last time, I think your face almost stuck in a cringe."

"Oh! I remember that!" Ruby quipped, scrunching up her face in an attempt to mimic their dad before breaking into laughter. "You looked like you were made of play-do."

When Ruby made the face again, he chuckled and rustled her hair.

"Hey, it's not easy to watch another kid throw punches at your child," he said in his defense.

"But wasn't it _you_ who got me into boxing?" Yang teased, the rhetorical question making him sigh and rub his temple.

"Yes. It was a good and a bad decision...you'll understand one day, when you have kids of your own."

"But Dad, I already have a kid!"

His eyes briefly widened in horror before relaxing when Yang pulled Ruby over to her.

"She's cute, right? Just look at these puffy cheeks -" When she pinched at Ruby's cheeks, Ruby slapped her hand away and squirmed out of her grasp.

"Don't scare me like that," he said while Yang laughed.

"I know you're not very observant, but I hope you'd notice _that_ ," she replied with a few chuckles of her own. Reaching down, she grabbed her bag and slung the straps around her shoulders before picking up her uniform.

"Salem today?" he asked, his brow crunching together while he looked at the uniform in her hand. "Be careful."

"Come on - don't worry so much, Dad!" Yang replied, lightly swinging her boxing outfit into his arm. "You put me in lessons so I could beat up everyone, remember?"

"Is that why I did that?" he asked himself while the moment of worry disappeared. "But you're right. Good luck today, sweetie. Knock 'em dead." After a brief pause, he shook his head. "Don't _actually_ do that please."

"I'll make sure to tell the cops that my dad told me to do it," Yang teased before quickly kissing him on the cheek. "See ya later!"

"Ruby, please make sure she doesn't kill anyone."

"No promises!" Ruby quipped before hopping out the door behind Yang. If he said something else, it was too mumbled to hear as they jumped off the front porch and made their way to school.

"Are you excited for tonight?" Ruby asked as soon as they fell into step on the sidewalk.

"You bet!"

Thursday was finally here, which meant dinner and a movie with Blake. They were spending time together outside of school hours. Hanging out.

She needed to stop using that phrase. She wanted it to be a _date_ , which meant she needed to start thinking about it like a date. And it would be _really_ helpful if she could say the word out loud.

What would it be like though? The most obvious answer was _amazing_ , but more specific than that? What would they talk about at dinner? Could they share a popcorn at the theater? Would Blake lean close to Yang while they watched the movie? How would they end the night - with a friendly goodbye or maybe...a hug?

"I can't wait," she added as a flurry of butterflies took off in her chest.

"You're gonna kick butt!" Ruby replied with a big grin. The response made Yang blink in confusion before realization dumped over her like a bucket of cold water.

"Oh. Boxing. Yup, I'm ready for that too."

"Wait - what were you talking about before?"

"Boxing, of course!" Yang fudged, not wanting to get into the embarrassing details just yet. Luckily, Ruby only gave Yang a curious glance before letting it go with a small shrug.

"Oh, I'm going out to dinner afterward," Yang added when she realized she hadn't told Ruby about her afternoon plans yet. "Will you be ok heading home without me?"

"Sure! Weiss'll probably walk back with me anyway. She said we could hang out." Yang nearly laughed out loud at the term, but Ruby continued. "Where are you going?"

"The usual."

"With who?"

"Blake's gonna come with me. We might catch a movie after."

Nonchalance was the best way to keep Ruby from asking more questions - and thankfully Yang was the master of nonchalance this morning. Not that she was trying to _hide_ this from Ruby, but Ruby had a very minimal filter when it came to keeping things secret. If Yang mentioned how much she liked Blake, Ruby would most likely blurt it out the next time they saw each other. If things were ever a little more...solidified...then Yang would tell Ruby right away.

"Oh! If you go to the theater, does that mean you're going to the mall?" Suddenly bursting with excitement, Ruby bounced ahead of Yang and walked backwards in front of her.

"Yes...why?" Narrowing her eyes, Yang sent up a silent prayer that Ruby wasn't going to ask to come with them.

"Can you get me one of those huge cookies?"

This was why Ruby chose to walk backwards - so she could train those silver puppy dog eyes on Yang with maximum efficiency.

"Ugh...fine," Yang agreed, although she really didn't have another option. " _If_ we're near there, I'll bring one back for you."

"Yes! You're the best, Yang!"

While Yang shook her head, she and Ruby headed onto school grounds and cut through the parking lot.

"I still don't think eating all that sugar is good for you."

"Doctor hasn't said anything about it yet!"

Again, Yang's only response was to shake her head and hold open one of the doors for Ruby to walk inside. She didn't understand how the doctor hadn't commented on it yet. If anything, he encouraged Ruby to eat more of _everything_. Not that Yang was jealous or anything...

"See you at lunch?" she asked when they reached the point where they had to split up.

"You bet! Have a good class!"

With a wave, Ruby raced off to...well, most likely to meet Weiss at the library. To each their own.

To homeroom!

After dropping her boxing stuff at her locker, Yang hurried to homeroom with growing butterflies and excitement. And, just like the previous few days, Blake was already sitting in her seat with a book propped open in front of her - completely unconcerned with anything else going on around her. Before her presence was noticed, Yang paused and took a good look at her classmate.

Not a _creepy_ look. Just a good look!

How did Blake make something as simple as reading look so incredibly attractive? The intense, unwavering gaze, the way strands of hair fell in front of her eyes only to be swept back behind an ear…

"Excuse me," someone mumbled while brushing past Yang into the classroom. The sound drew Blake's attention to the doorway - where Yang still stood.

Busted.

"Morning!" she called out while the first blush of the day heated her cheeks. Rushing forward, she grabbed the extra seat and pulled it over so she could turn Blake's desk into a table for two. "How're you doing?"

"I'm doing well," Blake answered with a playful grin while setting her book off to the side of her desk. "How are you? You seem pretty cheerful this morning."

"Absolutely! Today's gonna be a big day!"

"Looking forward to your fight this afternoon?" Blake asked, to which Yang grinned and nodded.

"Yup! But that's just one of the awesome things happening today."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Blake finally asked, "Are you looking forward to...hanging out?"

Bingo.

"You know it," Yang answered honestly. "I mean, I haven't gone to see a movie in forever. The last one Pyrrha and I went to was awful - something about gods and soldiers and...something…"

"I'm surprised it was awful. That seems like something you'd enjoy."

"The fighting was cool, but it was broken up by insanely long monologues. Pretty sure I fell asleep at least twice."

"Well, I hope you won't fall asleep tonight," Blake said playfully.

"With you there?" Yang shook her head. "Pretty sure I could stay up all night."

It was only when Blake's brow raised that Yang blushed a furious red.

"I-I mean...you're just...way more interesting than any movie," she sputtered, although she couldn't tell if her answer made it more or less embarrassing. Thankfully, because there was a god to have mercy on her, Neptune walked into the room and strode right over to her.

"A rose for you," he said while extending a single red rose between the two of them. "Red for luck at your match today."

After he swung it several times in her face, Yang caved and plucked the flower from his hand.

"Uh...thank you?"

It was a bit...unexpected...but also kind of thoughtful. Although Blake didn't look very amused by the gesture.

"Yellow normally symbolizes good luck," she commented dryly, eyeing Neptune suspiciously.

"Oh." Only temporarily taken aback by the information, he regained his signature grin in no time. "Then may this red represent the blood of your thoroughly-beaten opponent!"

Not at all expecting that response, a surprised laugh slipped past Yang's lips. "Thanks, Neptune," she said while he grinned and walked away. Blake's eyes followed him to his seat before she finally turned back to Yang with a slight frown.

"I didn't realize we were supposed to bring you gifts…"

"Oh! You totally weren't. It's just...Neptune, you know?" Yang waved one hand towards the boy as if that should explain everything, but Blake still looked relatively put off by the recent interaction.

"I mean, you coming to watch this afternoon is a great gift - really!" Yang added as assurance. Thankfully, the moment passed, and Blake regained her sly grin.

"How about I give you a gift after you win?"

Nora's comment from the other day instantly sprang into Yang's mind, and she blushed for the third time in a matter of minutes.

"Uh, I mean, that would work too…" she stammered. "But - but what if I lose?"

"Then I'll give you a different gift."

Yang's eyes widened at the response, while her mind felt like it might explode with imagination.

"Which one's better?" she asked, the desperate question making Blake smile in satisfaction.

"Would that really make a difference?"

"Uh, yeah!"

If one of the gifts was what Yang _hoped_ it was, she'd willingly drop the match to earn it. Or try extra, extra hard to win it.

"Ok," Blake answered after some thought. "Then it will be the same gift regardless of the results."

"The better one?" Yang pressed, her eagerness making Blake laugh softly.

"I'd say they were both of equal quality to begin with."

"Wait, really?"

Now Yang was confused. What could Blake be talking about?

"Yes, really. Would you like to venture a guess?"

Staring into Blake's eyes and finding way too much amusement, Yang shook her head while her cheeks steamed in embarrassment. Smoke was probably coming out of her ears right now, too.

"I'll, uh...wait and see…"

"Do you like surprises?"

The question sounded genuine, but under the current topic of conversation, Yang had no idea how to respond. Fortunately, in a shining example that luck was on her side today, Pyrrha walked into the room.

"Pyrrha!" Yang practically shouted in relief while leaning back in her chair. "Hey Pyrrha, what's up?"

Blake smirked before turning to Pyrrha, who gave Yang a suspicious glance.

"Good morning, Yang. Not much has happened yet this morning."

"Ah, well that's too bad. It'll get better - don't worry!"

With a small laugh, Pyrrha shook her head and walked past.

"I wasn't worried, but thank you for the encouragement. And good morning, Blake."

"Good morning," Blake replied before turning to Yang with another one of those knowing smiles. "I suppose that if I try to ask again, Mr. Oobleck will walk in -"

When their teacher almost immediately appeared at the door, Yang burst out laughing. Shaking her head in disbelief, Blake chuckled a few times before catching Yang's gaze.

"Thankfully, I'll have all evening to try to ask again," Blake added lightheartedly.

"You know it." After the two of them shared a quick smile, Yang stood and put the chair she'd borrowed back in its place. "Talk to you after class!"

Heading to her seat in the last row, she casually tossed the rose on top of the desk before sitting down.

"Where'd the rose come from?" Pyrrha whispered. "Did she -?"

When Pyrrha nodded towards Blake, Yang shook her head and waved towards the other side of the room.

"Just Neptune."

The answer made Pyrrha laugh while turning her attention forward, where Mr. Oobleck had just tossed a stack of papers on someone's desk before patting his hair and shirt as if searching for something.

"Good morning, students! I - well, I seem to have misplaced something."

As he spun in a circle and then went to check his desk drawers, Yang tuned out in favor of daydreaming about her upcoming evening. After the fight with Salem High was over, she'd take a quick shower in the locker room so she smelled nice and clean. She even brought an extra change of clothes today so she'd look nice too!

From school, they could walk over to get a fast dinner, which was great because Yang was always famished by that time. Once they ate, they could head over to the theater and figure out what movie was the longest.

Not knowing what they'd be watching was a little weird, but Yang wasn't bothered by the mystery at all. In fact, it added a little more excitement to the evening. Would they be watching a dull documentary? A horror flick? Historical romance? Action? She honestly had no idea, but she _did_ know that she was more than willing to watch whatever movie Blake wanted to see. What _Yang_ looked forward to most was sitting in the dark theater, their arms sharing an armrest, their hands maybe reaching for the popcorn at the same time...

Once the movie was over, they could...well, they could do whatever they wanted to do, but picking up a cookie for Ruby was a must. She would be heartbroken if Yang came home without one.

Which brought Yang's mind wandering back to the most important question - when would Blake give her this mysterious gift? Right after the match was over? After dinner? After the movie? During dinner? During the movie? And _what was it?_

Daydreaming about the options while staring at the curve running from Blake's shoulder down her lower back, Yang abruptly jumped in her seat when someone kicked her ankle.

"Ow," she hissed, glaring at Pyrrha. Not at all apologetic, Pyrrha pointedly nodded up front.

"Miss Xiao Long," Mr. Oobleck repeated while shoving his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Good luck in your match tonight. I'm sure you'll make Vale High very proud."

"Oh, yup!" Yang replied, blushing when Blake grinned at her and Pyrrha covered her eyes in embarrassment. "No problem! I mean, thanks."

Thoroughly flustered, Yang was fortunate he'd already moved onto another topic so she wouldn't be forced to speak anymore. The damage was already done though - Blake sent her one last grin before turning around, and Yang buried her head in her hands.

That was just a _little_ embarrassing. From the looks and chuckles she got from the rest of her classmates, it must've been obvious that she hadn't been paying an ounce of attention in class. It happened every once in a while, but _Blake_ just witnessed that incredible lapse in attention while Yang daydreamed about…

Yup. Just plain embarrassing. If someone sprayed her with water right now, she was pretty sure her cheeks would steam.

Picking up a pen and doodling in her notebook, she hardly processed the words Mr. Oobleck said. It was hard to understand him with how fast he spoke! But when she snuck a glance and saw that there was only a minute left until temporary freedom, she set her pen down and straightened in her seat.

"Remember to get these forms back next week -" he said as the bell rang and everyone started preparing to leave. Flipping her notebook shut with the form stuck between the pages, Yang shoved everything into her bag before tossing her pen on top.

"What a way to start the day," Pyrrha commented as they stood in near unison.

"Yeah, yeah," Yang grumbled. "That wasn't the first time I've been caught not paying attention in class!"

"No, but it _was_ the first time you were caught not paying attention while blatantly staring at one of your classmates."

Blushing at the response, Yang turned towards the door and found that Blake was again waiting for her. If this was the new routine, she could really get used to it.

"Good thing we don't have more classes together…" was all Yang could mumble before giving Pyrrha a smile.

"A silver lining!" Pyrrha laughed. "I won't be at lunch today, by the way, but I'll see you after."

"Tell Boy Wonder I say 'hello!' And ask him out today, will ya?" Leaving Pyrrha with a blush of her own, Yang rushed over to meet Blake. "Sorry to make you wait!"

"No problem. We have plenty of time to get to class."

"You'd think, but I always seem to be slipping into my seat just in the nick of time!"

"Then maybe we should walk to your class first?" Blake suggested, but Yang instantly balked at the idea.

"No, no. That's ok. I mean, I like how things are now." As Blake's expression filled with understanding, Yang quickly added, "And you know, I could always use a little extra cardio."

With a soft laugh, Blake briefly brushed closer to Yang while they passed a group of girls standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Then we'll keep things the way they are. For now."

Interested in what Blake meant by that, Yang only managed a glance to the side before a rapid motion drew her gaze away.

"Yang! Yang!"

Turning towards the sound of her name, she was surprised to find Trevor racing their way while waving to catch her attention.

"Hey Trevor," she greeted him after he careened to a stop in front of her and Blake. "What's up?"

"I heard you have a boxing thing tonight and wanted to tell you good luck!"

While he grinned up at her, she couldn't help but smile in return.

"Aww...thank you!"

"And Freddy says good luck too!" Trevor added. When he shifted his backpack on his shoulders, Yang playfully narrowed her eyes.

"Did he _actually_ say that, or are you putting words in his mouth?"

When Trevor giggled - almost exactly like Ruby - Yang's heart warmed and her smile grew.

"He totally said it!" he fibbed before running off with a grin and wave - quickly swallowed up in the crowd of students surrounding him. Laughing while he raced away, Yang glanced over and noticed that Blake was watching her with a smile.

"That was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen."

The casualness of the statement did nothing to prevent Yang's cheeks from feeling a _tad_ warmer.

"He's a cute kid," she answered, trying to divert the attention away from herself. "Reminds me a lot of Ruby."

"And he adores you like she does," Blake added. Grinning at the thought, Yang followed Blake to her locker and leaned against the wall while Blake found the books she needed for class.

"How do you think Freddy survives in that bag?" Yang wondered out loud. The question made Blake laugh into her locker, and Yang grinned while waving to another familiar face walking down the hall.

"Hey Violet," Yang said, expecting Violet to head into the classroom. Instead, she came over to talk.

"Good luck today," she said while shifting her way-too-large calculus book in her arms.

"Thanks! Did you _calc_ ulate my chances of winning?"

It was supposed to be a joke, but Violet pursed her lips and nodded.

"I can do that. I'll need your win-loss record as well as your opponent's. Plus your measurements and statistics on your fighting style." Pausing, Violet weighed several different options before nodding again. "Yes, I can do it with the right data."

Laughing at the serious response, Yang gently tapped Violet on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs up.

"I think I'll leave it a mystery for now. But next time I'll get you that info!"

With a small smile, Violet headed into the calculus classroom with all of the other math geniuses. Noticing that Blake had already shut her locker and was watching her again, Yang gestured towards Blake's class - just a couple of doors over.

"They should call this 'genius row' or something," Yang commented while they walked. "Because of all the smart classes happening here."

"Isn't your class also in this hallway?"

"Yeah, but it's _all_ the way at the other end."

"I think that still counts." Stopping by her classroom, Blake turned and pointed to the rose Yang was still carrying around. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Oh, I dunno." Lifting it up to look at, Yang frowned while considering her options. "I'll feel bad if I just throw it away, but I'm sure I'll think of a good use for it!"

Was it her imagination, or was Blake a little bothered that Yang was carrying around a rose from another person? It was probably just her imagination. Blake probably just wanted to know because she wanted to know everything - that was part of the smart kid credo, after all!

"Good morning." The greeting drew their attention to Weiss, who'd just joined them and was already looking at Yang like her existence didn't make any sense. "What's with the rose?"

"Ah, funny you'd ask!" Yang replied while trying to think of a good comeback. Since it was Weiss talking, she thought of one pretty fast.

"I thought you'd like to give it to Ruby!" she said, offering it to Weiss.

"What?" Weiss asked in shock, stepping away from the rose as if Yang was trying to hit her with it.

"Yeah! I mean...her name is _Ruby_ Rose - like a red rose, right? I thought you could give it to her as a gift. She'll love it!"

While Yang smiled, she watched conflicting emotions flicker through Weiss' eyes. Telling Yang 'no' was basically hard-wired into Weiss' DNA, but she struggled against that genetic coding fiercely right now.

"That's a dumb reason," she retorted while snatching the rose from Yang's hand. "But I'll take it with me. You're mangling it with your giant bear claws."

When Weiss stalked into the classroom without another word, Yang chuckled. But her laughter abruptly cut off when Blake reached for Yang's hand - interlacing their fingers and lifting their joined hands up in the air between them.

"Hmm…" Blake murmured. After a few seconds of consideration, she met Yang's eyes with a hint of a smile.

"I wouldn't say giant. I'd say just right," she commented before letting go of Yang's hand - and releasing her hold on Yang's heart. Lightly touching Yang's elbow, she smiled before heading into class.

"I'll see you at lunch," she said over her shoulder, leaving Yang frozen in the hall.

If the hallway had suddenly filled with quicksand, that might explain why Yang's feet weren't able to move away from the door. But...Blake just held her hand. Right? And not the _friendly_ kind of holding hands - the _more than friendly_ kind - with their fingers intertwined.

The bell jolted her out of her stupor and sent her running down the hall to make it to class in time.

Would it be wrong for her to think that maybe Blake already considered tonight a date? Was she just reading into the situation too much? And was she ever going to do anything in class besides think about Blake and look forward to the next time they'd see each other?

It didn't seem like it, as she spent a few more classes anxiously waiting for the end of the day to arrive.

When lunchtime finally rolled around, she bolted out of the classroom like a shot from a cannon and took her roundabout way to lunch - only to find that Blake waiting outside her classroom this time. She smiled when Yang careened around the corner, only to put on the brakes and attempt a nonchalant pace coupled with a small, super casual wave.

"Hey there, ready for lunch?"

"Always."

Their path to the cafeteria was uneventful other than a couple of people wishing Yang good luck this afternoon. By the time the two of them joined the line for food, they were just another part of the massive lunch crowd.

"Good luck today, dear," Mrs. Schafer said while Yang slid her tray down the iron rails of the lunch line.

"Thanks! I'm gonna do my best for the wonderful ladies who keep me fed during the day!" she replied with a huge grin.

"Well, don't want you to starve between now and then, do we?" the woman teased before scooping a huge serving of pasta onto Yang's tray and then adding a towering stack of chocolate chip cookies. "Make sure to share those with your sister."

Laughing and giving an obedient nod, Yang continued over to the registers to pay.

"You have a lot of people wishing you luck," Blake observed after catching up to Yang outside of the lunch line.

"I kind of like it! Not because they're paying attention to me or anything, but it's one of those times when the whole school comes together for one purpose, ya know?"

"To watch you punch someone?" Blake teased.

"Hey, it's not as simple as that!" Yang protested. "There's a lot more technique involved than just throwing punches."

"Well, maybe you can explain some of the technique to me later. Right now I'm pretty clueless when it comes to boxing. It just seems a bit...violent."

"I'll totally change your mind! After tonight, you'll be begging to join! You'll say, 'Yang, boxing is amazing. And I really, really want to be a boxer too. Please teach me your ways.'"

When Blake smiled, Yang couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of that thought. If Yang had learned anything about Blake so far, it was that she'd basically turned reading into a sport of its own. No way she'd join an afterschool club that didn't have anything to do with books in some way.

Too bad though. Yang would love to teach Blake a few moves, but that had much more to do with spending time together than actually thinking that Blake should take up the sport. It definitely wasn't for everyone. Plus, the idea of sending Blake into the ring with some unknown combatant didn't make her feel particularly good…

"Hey guys," she said while joining Ruby and Weiss at the table. "Hope we're not interrupting anything _special_."

"Yang!" Ruby greeted her, missing the tease entirely. "I was telling Weiss about the time you split your knuckle open! Remember that? How it was gushing blood all over the place?"

"Oh yeah. Dad had to throw out that towel I used to stop the bleeding."

"It's a lovely meal conversation," Weiss added sarcastically.

"If you think _that's_ gross," Yang began to say, but stopped when she noticed Blake looking at her. "But you're right. Maybe after we're done eating."

The expression Weiss shot Yang was almost unnerved by the easy acceptance, but Ruby was already moving on to the next topic.

"I'm so excited for tonight! I'm gonna get a popcorn. And a box of candy. Maybe two."

"Don't eat too much or you'll ruin dinner," Yang commented before tossing three cookies onto Ruby's tray and beginning her own lunch.

"Are you prepared for this afternoon?" Weiss asked while she speared a piece of broccoli from her tray.

"You know me, Weiss. I don't prepare for anything." Beaming in the face of Weiss' scowl, Yang playfully wiggled her eyebrows for good measure.

"Wonderful. It's not like we have a huge rivalry with Salem or anything..."

"Rivalry?" Blake cut in curiously.

"They're a big sports-oriented school," Weiss explained in a much more pleasant tone that she would have used with Yang. "They can't compete with academics, so they do whatever they can to beat us in athletics."

"Ah…"

While Blake nodded, Yang stared at Weiss in surprise.

"How do _you_ know that?" she asked, earning a scathing look in return.

"I don't live under a _rock_ , Yang. I hear some of what happens around here."

Hearing the confidence in the answer, Yang narrowed her eyes.

"Ruby told you, didn't she?"

Weiss pursed her lips and said nothing, but Ruby giggled.

"I went through our track schedule and talked about all the schools with her!" Ruby explained, spilling the beans and then some. "It's so annoying when we lose to Salem in _anything_ cuz then their track team shows up and they're all 'oh yeah but we beat you in football or tennis or blah blah.'" Wrinkling her nose in annoyance, Ruby shook her head. "Basically, you can't lose, Yang. No pressure."

"Thanks, sis!" Reaching over, Yang dragged Ruby closer and ruffled her hair - laughing when Ruby struggled away with a huff.

"It's really that big of a deal?" From her expression, Blake was mildly taken aback by the idea of such a big sports rivalry.

"Definitely!" Ruby replied, having lost any annoyance in a matter of seconds. "Our coach even gave us a pass from practice so we can go watch. The sprinters are gonna be there!"

"Well at least _one_ sprinter should be there," Yang teased, reaching over to tickle Ruby's side.

"I heard the principal is even coming to watch," Weiss joined in.

"Is he really?" Ruby asked before stuffing an entire cookie into her mouth. "Hee'sh cooo -"

"That's what I heard," Weiss repeated, but now it was Yang's turn to laugh.

"He won't be there. He said watching me box gives him nightmares of parent conferences."

"Oh right. Because you nearly got yourself suspended for breaking that boy's nose."

"Hey," Yang said in her defense, catching the shocked expression Blake had just sent her way. "He had it coming."

Expecting more of an argument, Yang was pleasantly surprised when Weiss shrugged and turned back to her food.

"Most likely," she muttered under her breath. "What an ass."

Smiling at the response, Yang briefly considered making a huge deal of the fact that Weiss just uttered a swear word on school premises. But Weiss also just agreed with her, so she decided against it.

"Blake, are you ready for that test we have today?" Weiss then asked, drawing Blake's intent gaze away from Yang.

"I think so. Although he wasn't very specific about what topics would be covered."

"My thoughts exactly. I studied the first ten chapters to be safe."

While the two talked about their hyper-advanced classes, Yang shoveled forkfuls of pasta into her mouth so she could finish her lunch. She needed all the energy she could get before the afternoon!

It was just a few minutes later that the conversation trailed off and Weiss unexpectedly stood from the table.

"Where're you going?" Yang asked when Weiss picked up her half-empty tray. "Lunch isn't over yet!"

"I want to return a few books to the library," Weiss answered easily, glancing over when Ruby immediately popped out of her chair.

"Can I come with you?"

With any other person in the world, Weiss would've been annoyed by the request. But with Ruby, she nodded and said, "Sure. You might as well."

And that was how the indomitable Weiss Schnee was reduced to a common softie in front of the entire cafeteria.

Well, only Yang noticed, but _boy_ did she notice. She couldn't stop noticing these things now that Blake had pointed it out. The funny part was that Ruby and Weiss were acting the same as they had for the past year, but now Yang saw what was happening. Sparks were flying - _love_ was in the air. Or...two high schoolers were awkwardly trying to figure their feelings out. Knowing Ruby, it was definitely the latter...

Still, Yang watched the two talking while they walked out of the cafeteria together, with Ruby gesturing widely and Weiss patiently listening to every word. When they were out of sight, Yang spun back to Blake with a smile.

"Broke his nose, huh?" Blake immediately asked with an arched brow, knocking the smile from Yang's lips as she sighed instead.

"Yeah...I did. To be fair though, he just 'accidentally' slammed some kid's hand in a locker! Nearly broke his fingers too. Then he took a swing at me - that's why I didn't get in much trouble."

"I'm not questioning your methods," Blake assured her. "If you felt the need to hit him, I'm sure it was necessary."

It wasn't until Blake made that comment that Yang realized she'd gotten a little defensive about that particular 'incident.' She was well aware of how bad it sounded that she broke someone's nose, but when Blake gave her a reassuring nod, she relaxed.

"Sorry," she mumbled to her tray. "Guess I just don't want you to think that _I'm_ the bully…"

"I already know you're not," Blake answered, drawing Yang's gaze as she shook her head in confirmation of that statement. "But what happened to the real bully? After his nose was fixed?"

Leaning back in her seat, Yang sighed at the subtle joke.

"He was 'allowed' to transfer. I think he ended up going to Salem, actually. He was only here for some sports scholarship anyway."

"And the other boy?"

"Broken fingers kid?" Yang asked, looking across the table and receiving a nod from Blake. "He's still here."

"He is?"

"Yeah. And Pyrrha has a massive crush on him," Yang explained with a grin. "How do you think we became friends?"

While Blake digested that story, Yang smiled at the good that had come out of that day. She and Pyrrha might've crossed paths eventually, but would they be as good of friends as they were now? It was one of those questions that was impossible to answer, but if Yang knew one thing...it was that she didn't regret her decision in the slightest.

"That's a really touching story…" Blake finally replied, her eyes soft and appreciative. The expression was so grateful that Yang let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Ah, well...it worked out for everyone."

Watching Yang for a few seconds longer, Blake eventually looked down at the table in between them.

"My parents removed me from that type of situation," she admitted, her eyes drifting to the side in thought. "They can be a little...overprotective."

"Those bullies?" Yang asked, suddenly a little angrier than before. "They didn't try to hurt you, did they?" Her heart beat furiously at the thought until Blake shook her head.

"No, they were average bullies. Mean words, stealing my things…"

"So your parents...what? Took you outta school?"

"They had me transferred immediately," Blake answered, her eyes finding Yang's with a sad smile. "I was young. They wanted to protect me, so they gave me a fresh start somewhere new."

"That's probably the best solution."

"Logically, yes...but sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out if they let me stay. Would I have ever been able to stand up for myself? Would I have learned to not care what anyone else thought of me?"

Blake's expression was so thoughtful that Yang felt like it wasn't her place to respond to those questions. Personally, she believed that Blake would've turned out to be the same person with or without her parents' interference. Maybe Blake wasn't the most outspoken person in the world, but she knew who she was and who she wanted to be - that was strength that a lot of people couldn't even fake.

With a sigh, Blake shook her head as if clearing away those thoughts.

"Sorry, didn't mean to get all existential on you…"

"Hey, no problem!" Yang said, giving Blake a smile to soothe any concerns. "I don't know what 'existential' means, but I love hearing about little Blake! I bet you were a cutie. I mean, not that that's - changed..."

Her cheeks warmed at the compliment, and then went searing hot when she noticed the soft blush on Blake's cheeks.

"I bet you were cute too," Blake replied with a slow grin. "You probably had an adorable little lion backpack and everything."

"Oh! Ruby totally had a monkey backpack!" Briefly pausing, Yang laughed at the memory. "Man, she kept that thing for _years_. I think we still have it in a box somewhere. Although the tail had fallen off…"

When Blake laughed, Yang grinned.

"If I _had_ stayed," Blake added. "I like to think I could've become your sidekick much earlier."

"Hey, I could've used the help, I'll tell ya. You could've been the brains of the operation." When Blake smiled, Yang smiled back before her eyes flitted to the clock across the room.

"Ah shoot - lunch is over already?" she groaned before quickly eating her last bite of cookie. "Why can't we have an hour lunch?"

"Just think...now you're that much closer to this afternoon."

The suggestion worked marvelously. Only a few more classes and the day would be over, which meant the evening could finally begin. Which meant they'd get to spend even _more_ time together.

With a minute left of the lunch period, they both stood and collected their empty trays to take to the garbage cans by the exits.

"I guess I'll see you later?" Blake asked, standing with Yang at the point where they would go their separate ways.

"Definitely - oh, but wait!" When Yang reached out and touched Blake's elbow to prevent her from walking away, Blake turned back with open curiosity in her eyes.

"I was just wondering - and you can totally say no - but if you don't mind, maybe you can meet me before?"

"Before…?"

"Before the fight starts?" Yang clarified, standing a little straighter and running a hand nervously through her hair. "Maybe you can meet me outside the locker room?"

Blake's slow smile sent a wave of relief sweeping through her, and the nod that followed made her feel even better.

"Of course I can."

"Awesome," was the only thing she could think to say while grinning at Blake like an idiot.

"That way I'll be one of the last ones to wish you luck," Blake added with a pleased smile of her own. Reaching out, she lightly squeezed Yang's forearm before walking away and leaving Yang practically dead in the hallway.

How did Blake know that's exactly what Yang was trying to do? Was she just that obvious...or was Blake thinking the same things Yang was, because she felt the same things Yang was?

Shaking herself out of the daze, Yang smiled while rushing to class - more than a little excited for the end of the day to arrive.


	14. Chapter 14

Because Yang was a lucky person, this really great phenomena plagued her on an almost daily basis. Whenever she looked forward to something - like really looked forward to something - time immediately slowed to a crawl, if not a complete stop. Minutes became hours. Hours became days. Days became weeks.

It was a superpower of sorts. A superpower she didn't want, but apparently she had no say in the matter.

Just like the weekend dragging by, the last few classes of the day passed so slowly that they nearly moved backward in time. Really, she wouldn't be surprised if she found herself in homeroom soon. Although...that would be a pretty sweet surprise if Blake was there too.

After nearly wearing a hole in the floor from how fast her knee jittered up and down, Yang flew into the hallway the instant the bell rang. Joining the crowds of recently-freed students, she raced to her locker so she could grab her boxing gear and leave her books behind. Once she did that, she could make her way to the locker room. And then...

"Good luck, Yang!"

"Thanks!"

Without breaking pace, she knocked fists with a member of the basketball team and waved as they headed towards the exit. When she made it to her locker a few minutes later, the lock practically flew open and her unnecessary schoolbooks tumbled inside. After pulling out her boxing gear, she slammed the door shut and resumed her speed walk to the gym.

The time had finally arrived. Boxing! Then dinner and a movie with Blake.

That second part might be way, way better than the first, but boxing was also pretty cool. Boxing would be the highlight of any ordinary day, but on this particular day, it played second fiddle to an event she was far more excited for.

She went to the movies pretty often with friends, but today felt different. Today felt special. Maybe she was the only one who thought so, but that wouldn't keep her from having a great time.

The closest theater was part of a large shopping center, so the two of them could walk around and window shop while waiting for the movie to start. During that time, Yang could ask some of the never-ending questions that popped into her head and commit the answers to memory. Or somehow sneakily write them down since her memory was horrible sometimes.

When it was time for the movie, she would offer to buy the concessions - whatever Blake wanted, even if it was five giant tubs of popcorn or fifteen boxes of candy. Blake could pick their seats - front row, back row, the weird back corner seats, anything was fine. And then, when they finally settled in, Yang would try not to think too much about how close they were sitting, or how they could lift the armrest and be even closer, or how it was dark and intimate in that weird back corner seat Blake chose.

...but before that, boxing!

Unsurprisingly, the entire school was hyped about Salem High paying a visit. Even though the new year had just started, the rivalry was very much alive, and everyone jumped right back into the spirit of things. The freshmen didn't seem to get it yet, but they would after one of those ridiculous chants Salem taunted them with.

Yang wanted to win because they were matched against Salem - i.e., the evilest school in existence - but she also wanted to do really well so that she could impress Blake a little bit.

Not just a little bit - a lot. A whole heck of a lot. Because Blake was a freaking genius and what was Yang? She got average grades, especially compared to Blake, but boxing she was good at. It was the one noteworthy skill she had, but it wasn't like she had the opportunity to show off her killer techniques on a daily basis. Unfortunately for her, impromptu boxing matches weren't a thing...so she needed to maximize her limited chances to show off.

And who knew? Maybe Blake's 'type' was someone who boxed really well, with a mean left hook that stung like a bee.

Jogging into the locker room - which was emptier than usual without the track team taking up all the space - Yang threw her bag onto the closest bench and practically jumped straight out of her shoes. After tossing them into an empty locker, she shimmied out of her school outfit and tugged on her boxing gear.

Since they had a match today, she would wear her official Vale High uniform - a yellow, fitted tank top with black stripes running down the sides and black shorts that mirrored the tank with yellow stripes. And, of course, no uniform was complete without big, blocky letters reading 'Vale High' running across her chest.

"Where's the fire?" someone teased her. Looking over and finding a few of her teammates filtering into the locker room, each giving her a surprised or amused glance, Yang threw her bag into the locker with her shoes and shut the door.

"Got nothing better to do!" she quipped while heading for the door.

That was a lie. She did have something better to do - which was meeting Blake before they went into the gym. Besides wanting to see and talk to Blake again, this was Yang's last chance to bring up the word 'date' - casually. A date. She could throw it into conversation all nonchalant-like. Not that she had any problem with hanging out, but if she could swing this even an inch in the 'date' direction, she would personally find a way to jump over the moon. Seeing as how jumping over the moon had always been a personal goal of hers, she'd really like to see it happen today.

Shoving open the door, she promptly jumped backward to avoid being plowed over by Nora.

"Woah there!" she called out as the whirlwind whipped past her. "You trying to take me about before the match?"

"Salem's already here!" Nora replied while hastily getting ready. "We can't let them make it to the gym first!"

Chuckling at the unprompted competition, Yang shook her head and moved back to the door.

"They can't start without us, you know," she teased Nora - who merely huffed while dressing as fast as possible. Still shaking her head while leaving her teammates behind, Yang walked into the hall and was ecstatic to find that Blake was already there - leaning casually against the wall a little way away from the locker room door.

"Hey!"

There was no stopping the smile that sprang onto Yang's lips, along with a bit of instant infatuation at the image of casual Blake.

"Hey," Blake replied with a smile of her own while pushing away from the wall. "I like your uniform."

When Blake nodded towards her, Yang glanced at her outfit and shrugged.

"They're pretty cool. At least I look ok in yellow, right?"

For a few seconds, Blake didn't answer the question, opting instead to slowly look Yang up and down before smiling - all while Yang's cheeks discovered new meanings of the word 'superheated.'

"You look great."

"Uh, you - do too…" was Yang's immediate, flustered response - the honesty of it only making her more flustered. "I mean, you always do - or, I mean...I like your outfit."

"I'm glad you like it," Blake replied with a modest smile. "I plan on wearing it tonight."

Tonight.

"Right! Yeah, you look incredible."

The entire response had already slipped out before Yang clamped her mouth shut and shook her head. At this rate, it wasn't going to be a problem to call tonight a 'date' because she was going to slip up and say it. She'd probably refer to Blake as her girlfriend too while she was at it.

But the way Blake smiled made Yang think that maybe it wasn't so crazy to think they had something going on between them. Because it almost looked like Blake had enjoyed that compliment...

"So…" Yang began to say before being interrupted by several of her teammates walking into the hall wearing outfits matching hers.

"Yang, you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll catch right up!" she replied, quickly waving them away. Shrugging, they headed towards the gym while talking amongst themselves. Not even a second later, Nora burst out of the locker room and ran over to shake Yang's arm before sprinting after them with nothing more than a delighted squeal.

"If you need to go…"

"I don't," Yang said, shaking her head before abruptly stopping. "Unless...do you want to get a good seat or something?"

"Weiss actually offered to save me a seat with her and Ruby." Noticing Yang's immediate expression of disbelief, Blake nodded to confirm that it wasn't a joke.

"She did?" Yang asked anyway, her shocked response making Blake smile.

"She did. I'm a little worried she's banking up as many favors as possible so she can ask me for a big one later."

"I wish I could say that didn't sound like something she'd do…" Yang muttered. Now she was imagining Weiss waiting until the end of the year and then asking Blake to tank a final exam. That way, Weiss would graduate as first in their class.

"But I think she likes you!" Yang added. "Obviously, she doesn't like many people, so maybe that's why it comes across as her having ulterior motives."

"Well, we'll see what she ultimately ends up asking for." When Blake wiggled her brow, Yang laughed and nodded.

"Hey Yang!"

Turning towards the sound of her name, she smiled.

"Hey Hannah," she said as the young girl approached them.

"Is this alright?" Hannah asked, motioning to her yellow Vale High t-shirt and plain black shorts.

"Looks great!" Nodding, Yang made sure to give Hannah a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; we'll get you a uniform as soon as we can. It's just hard with the beginning of school and the fights starting up so fast."

"That's ok. I don't mind waiting."

When Hannah's eyes briefly flitted towards Blake, Yang remembered her manners.

"Oh! Blake, this is Hannah - our freshman boxer extraordinaire. Hannah, this is Blake - she's, uh, she's my...we have homeroom together."

'Friend' seemed like the most obvious answer, or 'classmate,' but Yang didn't want to use either of those words to describe Blake. They didn't seem good enough.

"Nice to meet you," Hannah replied with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you too. I've heard you're learning quickly."

"Well it's only been a few days, but I have some great people to learn from."

"I can imagine who one of them might be…"

When Blake gave Yang a warm smile, Hannah chuckled and waved while backing away.

"I'll see you inside," was the last thing she said before disappearing into the gym. Once Hannah left, Yang noticed that Blake was still staring after her with a thoughtful expression.

"That's who Ruby was referring to?" Blake finally asked before returning her gaze to Yang. "The one you've been raving about?"

"I wouldn't say I've been raving about her." Nervously chuckling at how that sounded, Yang tried to think of a way to diffuse the potential miscommunication. "Besides, she's not really my type," she added, hopefully, a clear signal that Blake had nothing to worry about.

"I didn't think she was," Blake answered simply. "I only asked because one of the girls who stays after school talks about her incessantly. I wanted to know who she was referring to."

"Oh."

Was Yang disappointed that Blake wasn't threatened by another girl...or relieved? Just a few seconds ago, she was worried about it, which meant she should probably feel relieved but…

Wait a second - a girl who stayed after school talked 'incessantly' about Hannah?

"Who is it?" Yang asked, suddenly eager to know the answer. "Can you describe her?"

"You want to tease her, don't you?" Blake retorted with a knowing smile.

"Of course! That's my right as a senior. I get to tell the freshmen what to do and tease them about any potential love interests."

Even though Blake shook her head, she smiled and said, "I'll point her out the next time I see her."

"Yes!"

"If you answer a question for me."

Yang's celebration cut off mid fist pump.

"Uh, ok. Sure."

Again, she agreed way too easily, but that was her style. Agree to anything and figure out what it meant later. In this case, it meant that Blake looked awfully smug while preparing to ask this question with strings attached.

"What's your type?"

Yang could've smacked herself for bringing up the topic - and of course Blake followed up with that question.

If Yang answered honestly, she had a thing for super attractive, super intelligent, super mysterious and super witty girls who kept her on her toes and constantly had the upper hand. But that answer might be a little too revealing...

"Uh, I mean, just nice, kind people who are good for the world," she fudged, only succeeding in making Blake grin at the obviously non-forthcoming answer.

"Maybe you can explain further over dinner," Blake replied, in just one sentence telling Yang that this wouldn't be over until Blake knew the truth.

Maybe it was time for Yang to drop the act. Maybe she was as obvious as Pyrrha about who she liked. Maybe there was a giant, neon sign floating above her head that broadcast her emotions for everyone to read.

Surprisingly, none of that was particularly bothersome to her.

A group of loud voices drifted down the hall then as laughter and excited chatter filled the air behind them. Turning towards the noise, Yang watched a group of students walk towards the gym while talking excitedly with each other. Bookbags still slung over their shoulders, they headed inside without even pausing to glance towards Blake and Yang.

Apparently, quite a few people were watching today. That was good - a big audience was always more fun!

"Are you nervous?" Blake asked after turning away from the steady trickle of students following the larger group.

"Naw, not really," Yang answered with a shrug. "It's more like...anticipation."

"That's good. Then you're confident."

"I mean, yeah. I've been doing this for a long time though."

When Blake suddenly took a step closer, Yang's heart immediately jumped into her throat.

"So no sweating palms?" Blake asked, her voice quiet while her eyes searched Yang's. "No racing heart? Honestly, I was looking forward to seeing you a little nervous."

Well now Yang's palms were sweating and her heart was racing. And, as a bonus, she could feel her pulse pounding through her veins while her skin heated up from Blake's proximity.

"I try to, ya know -" Pausing, Yang cleared her throat. "Keep it cool."

Which was the complete opposite of what was happening right now, with Blake was nearly pressed against her. Not that Blake seemed at all affected - instead, she stared up at Yang with a hint of a smile lingering at the edge of her lips, looking quite content to remain in Yang's personal space for as long as she was welcome.

Forget bringing up a 'date' - it felt like this was when they should kiss. It would be so easy to lean down a few inches...and even easier if Yang's heart wasn't swinging like a wrecking ball through her chest.

She licked her lips and imagined moving closer, but the moment vanished when a flash of green caught her eye. Knowing that color anywhere, she took a half step away and turned towards the girl walking past.

"Hey Emerald," she called out, making sure to force a cordial smile.

"Hey loser," Emerald shot back, unfortunately deciding to stop and 'chat.' "Ready to eat mat?"

The grin on Emerald's lips could be described as friendly, but Yang knew better than to trust that innocent face. She still tried to be civil, but there was just no working with this girl.

"Was just saying 'hello,'" she said diplomatically. "See you inside."

Emerald scoffed - like she'd predicted that response.

"It'd probably be better if you didn't show up today," she added flippantly, again flashing that phony smile before turning to walk away.

"Wow," Blake breathed to herself. It hadn't been very loud, but apparently just loud enough that Emerald overheard and spun back towards them with a flash of a scowl. Immediately stiffening, Yang took a step closer to Blake - her adrenaline pumping while waiting for Emerald to respond.

"Who are you?" Emerald demanded, the force of the question only making Blake look miffed as to why it was directed towards her.

"Um...Blake…"

"Do you box?"

Laughing at the question, Blake shook her head. "No."

"Then what makes you think you can talk to me?" When Emerald crossed her arms over her chest, Blake shot a curious glance at Yang before looking back.

"Well...you spoke to me first. What made you think you could talk to me?"

When Emerald's brow furrowed with a scowl, Blake tilted her head like the entire conversation was interesting to her in some way.

"Just beat it, Emerald," Yang stepped in before Emerald decided that she took exception to some non-boxer speaking to her. "We're going to start soon anyway."

A hostile glare was firmly in place when Emerald turned to Yang, but it quickly morphed into an amicable expression that was more alarming than the glare had been.

"Always playing peacekeeper..." she said, her tone suggesting it was a good thing while her eyes said otherwise. "You're lucky we don't go to school together. Otherwise, I would've beaten that out of you by now."

Shocked by the unexpected viciousness, Yang let out a surprised laugh that only drew Emerald one threatening step closer.

"Do you really think you'd stand a chance in a real fight against me? I'd wipe that self-righteous smile right off your face."

The fact that Emerald could issue threats while keeping that sickeningly-sweet smile in place was downright disturbing. No wonder she never got into trouble - teachers would fall for that face every time.

Under the current circumstances, however, the only response Yang could think of was to laugh it off - even though the idea of fighting Emerald wasn't very humorous at all. She'd probably pull a knife or something crazy like that.

When Yang chuckled and shook her head, Emerald spun on her heel and stalked away from them - either annoyed or tired of the conversation. Still slightly shell-shocked at what was one of their worst interactions yet, Yang watched Emerald walk away before jolting from her daze when the gym door slammed against the wall after being thrown open.

"Jeez…" Yang breathed out, finding Blake also staring after Emerald with a creased brow. Leave it to Emerald to suck the joy out of a conversation, but Yang could turn this around in no time!

"Do I have a self-righteous smile?" she joked, smiling questioningly at Blake and receiving a small smile in return.

"You have a wonderful smile," Blake assured her before scowling towards the entrance of the gym. "But it's probably blinding to her pitch-black soul..."

Yang burst out laughing at the joke, which was the most accurate description of Emerald she'd ever heard. And her teammates had described Emerald in a lot of ways over the years - none of those ways very flattering and most of them including at least two swear words. Pitch black soul though...that was a good one.

"Well, you got to meet my lovely opponent for this afternoon," Yang added, noticing Blake's eyes widen in surprise.

"That's who you'll be fighting against?"

"Yup! Don't worry though. If she was half as good at boxing as she is at being straight-up evil, I'd be in serious trouble. Thankfully, she's mostly talk and serious glares."

"I don't think I've ever met someone so...unpleasant."

It was a tactful answer, but Yang could feel the waves of dislike radiating from Blake right now - which only made Yang like her more. A good judge of character...Yang added that to the growing list of traits she searched for in someone she liked. What luck that she'd found all those things bottled up in one person.

"I'm impressed though," she added as the run-in with Emerald faded away. "You totally held your own! Not even a flinch."

"Well...what do I have to be afraid of?" Blake asked before sending Yang a sly smile. "Especially with Vale High's best boxer standing right beside me?"

Yang probably couldn't have smiled any bigger at the absolutely true statement.

"I'd have your back," she willingly agreed. "Anytime."

"I know you would."

When Blake smiled, Yang felt her heart do another rapid badump badump in her chest. Shooting a glance towards the clock and finding that she didn't have much time left before she'd be forced to leave, she licked her suddenly dry lips and shifted between her feet.

"We're still on though - for after?" she asked. At this point, she was looking forward to that way more than facing Emerald.

"Of course."

The affirmative response made Yang break into a huge grin while a group of butterflies swirled around her chest.

This was it. This was the last chance she'd have to change tonight from hanging out as friends to hanging out as more than friends. And, after what she just witnessed, she'd never been more certain that she wanted to be much more than Blake's friend.

"Great!" she replied, meeting Blake's eyes and flushing on cue. "It's…it's a date!"

The second the word left her mouth, her heart rate sped up to about a million beats a minute while she waited for Blake's response. If she didn't seem into it, Yang could always try to play it off as a joke -

But Blake took a step closer, stood on her tiptoes, and placed a soft kiss on Yang's cheek.

"I'm looking forward to it," she whispered before moving away with a small smile and the faintest of blushes dusting her cheeks. Meanwhile, Yang's heart was ready to pop out of her chest. And she was pretty sure she had this horribly-goofy grin on her face.

"Y-yeah!" she stuttered. "Me too!"

Had Blake just kissed her on the cheek? That happened, right? It must have because her cheek felt like it was on fire where Blake's lips had touched.

And they were going on a date tonight! It was official! It was a date.

"Yang, come on!" she heard someone yell from down the hall. Briefly turning away, she found one of her teammates waving through the gym door to her - but she immediately looked back to Blake.

Did she want to go right now? Hell no. She wanted to stand here all afternoon talking to Blake instead. And all evening, all night - really, she'd spend the night here as long as they could spend more time together. But there was that little thing called boxing that she'd agreed to do and needed to get out of the way first.

"I can't wait either," she breathed out in one rush of excitement, taking note of the smile in Blake's eyes. It made her heart do another backflip.

Blake was looking forward to their date.

Taking a deep breath to calm her sudden jitters, Yang bounced on her toes and swung a few practice jabs in the air.

"Ready to watch me beat up a big bully?" she joked, sending Blake a wink.

"Well...I've already seen you do that, but I'll watch again."

The curious reply made Yang fall flat-footed and drop her hands. "Huh?"

"Yannnnngggggg!"

Waving off Nora's whine, Yang stared at Blake - who gave her a hesitant-yet-intent expression in return.

"What do you mean?"

"Four of them, actually," Blake explained, waiting for the words to sink in before turning to walk away. "Good luck - I'll see you right after."

Four of them? What was Blake talking about? Yang hadn't gotten into a fight in years…

Noticing Nora stalking down the hall with a very determined look in her eyes, Yang broke out of her stupor and ran towards the gym doors.

"I'm coming!" she yelled, grabbing Nora's arm to drag her back inside. "Sorry, I'm late!"

"We've been waiting," Nora wailed while throwing her hands in the air for good measure. "We can't start without you, and I wanna box!"

"Got it, got it, jeez! Sorry, I got caught up talking."

"Box first!" Nora huffed as they jogged over to the rest of their team. "You can talk to your girlfriend after!"

Nora meant that as a tease, but the term made Yang beam like an idiot. If Blake agreed to go on a date, didn't that mean that they were kind of, sort of, one step closer to being able to use that word?

"Now that we're all here," Coach Ironwood cut into her thoughts as the team grouped together in preparation. "Let's get warmed up."

Catching the glance he sent her way, Yang nodded and said, "Got it," before waving her teammates after her. A short jog, lots of stretching, and then a few exercises to get their hearts pumping were in order. Throw in some jabs, then switch. Run through the same with hooks and uppercuts.

As they went through the same routine that hadn't changed in years, the bleachers steadily filled with students and a few parents waiting for the fights to begin. There were jitters in some of her teammates - Yang could see it in the way their eyes weren't as focused as a good day at practice. Excitement and anticipation filled the air, but also a fair amount of nerves.

This was the first sporting event of the year, and it showed. Even she felt edgier than usual, but that might have more to do with a certain kiss that happened right before she walked in here.

A kiss on the cheek, but that was still a kiss - the word was right there in the name! A kiss before the match and a date after...this day really couldn't get any better than that. Well, she could think of one thing that might make it even better, but she wasn't going to think about that until the fight was over.

Or she was going to try not to think of that until the fight was over. But Blake had promised Yang a reward after the match...could it actually be what she hoped it was?

Once warm-ups were complete, she waved her teammates over to her. With everyone grouped up, she shot a glance towards the opposing team on the other side of the ring, watching closely to see what they were doing to prepare for the match.

"Yang -" was all Coach Ironwood got out before she quickly slapped hands with her teammates and headed over to Nora.

"Their uniforms are ugly," Nora said while holding up rolls of tape to wrap Yang's hands.

"Don't let them hear you say that. You know how protective they are of all that green."

Scrunching up her face in distaste, Nora still managed to keep quiet while expertly taping up Yang's hands. It was the only activity Yang had ever seen Nora do with any ounce of quiet and concentration - and the effort was appreciated.

Because Yang was the number one boxer on their team, she went first against Emerald. Nora would fight right after, and then they'd continue down the line until the matches were over. Best of five won the day and the bragging rights.

Of course, they didn't want only to win a majority of the matches - they wanted to sweep them all. That's what every student in attendance wanted too. Salem High was here - and Vale High wanted to send the green-coated school home with nothing but a big, fat zero. It was doable, but it all started with the first round. If Yang crushed Emerald, the rest should fall like dominos.

When Nora threw the roll of tape on the ground and pushed Yang's gloves over her fists, Yang allowed her eyes to drift into the stands. Weiss was the easiest to find - with her white hair, she kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Beside her sat Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha, and Jaune.

Raising one gloved hand, Yang sent a quick wave that direction. Blake smiled, but it was Ruby who enthusiastically waved back - having mistaken the wave for herself.

It could've been for Ruby! Or maybe just all of them - her favorite people in the school. Plus Weiss.

Ah, who was she kidding? Weiss was pretty cool most of the time.

"Yang."

Looking up, Yang found her coach staring down at her with a serious expression. But Coach Ironwood was mostly serious expressions and nothing else.

The spectators in the stands grew rowdy as an announcer came over the microphone to introduce the first match. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Emerald bouncing on her toes near her team and speaking to her coach.

It was about to begin.

"Yeah?" Yang asked while her anticipation and energy rose with the sound of cheers coming from the crowd.

"We both know what Emerald is capable of," he reminded her sternly. "Keep your wits about you. I'll be watching closely, but there's only so much I can do from the sidelines."

"Got it, Coach," she replied with a quick nod.

"And remember - her left side is weaker than the right. Wait for the perfect moment and...well, you know what to do."

Nodding again, Yang bounced between her feet and slipped a guard into her mouth - only the spit it out in surprise when it tasted overwhelmingly like bubble gum. Turning to her teammates, she found most of them giggling while Nora held up a can of something. Yang couldn't read the words from here, but she guessed that whatever it was, they'd sprayed it on her mouth guard.

Shaking her head, she smiled and popped it back in her mouth. It tasted pretty good - definitely a step up from plain, old plastic.

Heading over to the boxing ring that had been moved to the center of the gym for better viewing, she ducked between the ropes and walked over to Vale High's corner. This was when the jitters really started - making her shake her arms in a futile effort to get out some of the pent-up energy. It wouldn't work because it never worked, but it was all a part of her process - the routine she'd followed for years now.

She needed complete focus. This wasn't the time to be distracted. If she was distracted, she'd make a fool out of herself. Or, more likely, Emerald would make a fool out of her, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

Casting one more glance towards Blake and her friends, Yang caught a last-minute smile that was more encouragement than the screams and cheers following her name as it was announced to the gymnasium.

Four bullies though? What the heck was Blake talking about?

There wasn't time to ponder those questions because Emerald was now in the corner across from her, prowling back and forth with a green mouthguard in place.

"Ladies," the referee said as he waved them to the center of the ring. "You both know the rules - let's have a clean fight."

When he looked at Yang, she nodded. He then turned to Emerald, who smiled through her guard and nodded. It wasn't until he turned away that Emerald's smile fell and a scowl took its place. Lightly tapping their gloves together in a show of sportsmanship, the two of them retook their corners while waiting for the first round to start.

Staring at Emerald and faintly shaking her hands, Yang slowed her breathing while all of her attention tunneled into the match at hand. The crowd cheered, but the second the bell rang, everything faded to silence. The only sound she heard was her breathing as she lifted her arms and carefully made her way towards the center of the ring. There was no need to rush right now…all she needed to do was get a feel for how this fight was going to go.

For a few seconds, it felt like it would be a slow, methodical battle from the measured steps Emerald took - but the instant Yang made it within striking distance, Emerald came out swinging to kill. Or at least seriously maim. The aggression immediately put Yang on her heels backing away from the attacks, but she couldn't back up too far - she didn't want to give up too much ground this early. So after dodging the first few blows with backward hops, she planted her feet and felt the fourth land.

The first blow always shot through her like a round of fireworks - her body only thinking it was prepared for the contact up until that point. But as soon as Emerald's glove connected with her side, she knew something was wrong. A grunt forced past her lips as air left her lungs from the impact.

That wasn't fireworks...that was a bomb going off.

She'd fought some heavy-handed people in the past, but Emerald wasn't one of them. She was too small to put that much force behind her blows, so she'd always been more of an elusive fighter. But somehow that had completely changed, and today she was hitting harder than in any of their previous matches.

Or her gloves were hard. Like...filled with metal or cement hard.

Dodging a few more jabs, Yang tried to create some separation between them so she could slow the fight - but Emerald pressed forward relentlessly. At the rate she was going, she'd wear out in no time, but that was probably the strategy. And with those gloves, she only needed to land one clean blow to score some massive points.

Why had Yang expected a clean fight? Emerald never understood the rules - she only understood that other people followed them and that gave her an advantage when she circumvented them.

Clearly determined to make the most of her advantage, Emerald steadily pressed forward. Left, right, left, left, right - each blow was followed immediately by another in an attempt to keep Yang on the defensive.

Unfortunately for Emerald, Yang hated being on the defensive. Watching the next three blows closely, she intentionally took a shot to the ribs while perfectly timing the gap and firing off a sequence that sent Emerald skittering backward to safety.

That's right. Emerald might have given herself an edge, but she still knew who wielded the power here.

With temporary space between them, Yang turned and motioned to the referee. "Her gloves -" she tried to say through her mouthguard, nearly missing the fist flying towards her head. Sidestepping the blow at the last second, she raised her gloves again and sent two attacks towards Emerald in annoyance.

So that's what Emerald was going to do today? Cheat and then force Yang to stay in the fight until the round ended? Well fine. Emerald only had an advantage when landing blows, so...Yang just wouldn't let that happen.

Newly determined, Yang bounced between her feet and focused on the attacks darting towards her like missiles. This was one of the moments when all of that rope work came in handy. On her toes, she easily backed away from a few powerful blows before picking her spot, ducking under Emerald's left arm, and landing one solid punch in Emerald's side. Emerald grunted and spun around, leading with her elbow in a wildly illegal move that Yang skirted away from. Smiling through her mouth guard, Yang shook her head in disbelief while they reset.

It was incredible what Emerald got away with sometimes…

The brief separation lasted no more than a few seconds before Emerald was back on top of her with a hectic series of attacks. After absorbing a few of the blows with her gloves, Yang snapped out a quick combination that caught Emerald off guard. Jab, jab, hook.

The hook landed on Emerald's headgear with enough force to throw her off balance and stumbling to the side. One hand touched the mat for support before she regained her posture and came back even angrier before.

The longer Yang avoided a confrontation that could get her into a world of hurt, the more time ticked off of the clock. The round was drawing to a close and with each passing second Emerald grew both desperate and infuriated that her underhanded cheat wasn't paying immediate dividends. Pure viciousness fueled her fists now as she sent them pummeling towards Yang's head and torso on rapid fire.

But Yang's experience had taught her how to read the attacks...and Emerald was projecting her patterns through exhaustion and lack of calm. Lying in wait, Yang dodged what she could and suffered the rest - each punch that landed sending a quick shockwave through her limbs.

Left, left, right, left. Focusing on her footwork and flashes of green, Yang waited for the perfect opening. Emerald would make a mistake soon - Yang could practically see it coming from the unconcealed rage sparking in her eyes.

It was never a good idea to fight angry. Anger clouded judgment and led to bad decisions.

The instant Emerald's left glove dropped a fraction of an inch too low, Yang leveled a hook into her jaw that would have ended the match if she hadn't jumped away in time. But she wasn't fast enough to avoid Yang's follow-up shot that landed squarely in her ribs. Hearing the air leave Emerald's lungs, Yang pressed forward with another jab was just barely moved away from.

Just like that, the tables turned, and Emerald was on the retreat now - conceding ground and then some as she backed towards the ropes to get away from Yang's precisely-placed attacks. Right, left, left. She attacked Emerald's left side and succeeded with three more shots that landed with a satisfying recoil flowing through her fists.

It was easy to lose situational awareness amid a retreat, which was why Emerald didn't realize she reached the ropes until she backed right into them. With nowhere to go, Yang kept up a steady stream of attacks - enough that Emerald was forced to do nothing but absorb and absorb blows she couldn't hope to defend.

DING

The instant the bell signaled the end of the round, Yang dropped her fists and scooted a safe distance away. When Emerald lowered her own gloves, she gave Yang a look of loathing unlike anything she'd received before. Unamused, she shook her head and walked back to her corner.

That wasn't a bad start. She had to be ahead in points - next round, she could be even more aggressive and really take the lead. But first, she needed to get Emerald a new pair of gloves.

In the middle of the ring, she waved the referee towards her and said, "Her gloves," through her mouth guard while tapping one of her gloves on top of the other. When he looked confused, she spit her guard into her glove so she could speak. "Her gloves -" she repeated.

"Really, you're going to tattle?"

Rolling her eyes at the scornful words, Yang turned back to Emerald, only to be met by a bright green boxing glove.

Then nothing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you so much for all of the support. You have no idea how much it meant to me 3 Now back to it!**

 **Edit: if you already posted a comment on this chapter from two weeks ago, it probably won't let you comment again. That's ok though - I appreciate your thoughts anyway!**

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The next few minutes - or hours, she wasn't sure - were a messed up jumble of loud words, bright lights, a blistering headache, and a very, very heavy fog covering every bit of it. There were faces and voices and sounds, but she couldn't make sense of anything. It was like...wearing a pair of earmuffs while watching a movie through a dirty glass window.

By the time she came out of that daze, she was lying on a bed with...it was Blake sitting in the chair beside the bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Blake?" For a split second, Yang wasn't sure that was the right name. It sounded right, but...where had she seen this before? Sitting like that, Blake looked so...small and...vulnerable.

Immediately releasing her hold of her knees, Blake leaned forward.

"Hey…how are you feeling?"

Blake's voice was soft and soothing, but her eyes were filled with concerned. The expression did nothing to wipe away the confusion running through Yang's mind. When she tried to sit up, however, Blake quickly pushed her back down by one shoulder.

"Woah, slow down there. You just took a nasty hit to the head."

Giving in to the gentle pressure against her shoulder, Yang laid down and groaned at the way everything hurt right now. Her mind was all kinds of foggy. The room was faintly ringing. She had a massive headache. Her left eye was practically swollen shut and throbbing painfully.

"Mmmk…" she mumbled, accepting that she shouldn't sit up right now. Not that she wanted to anymore - not moving was much better than trying to move.

After watching Yang very intently for a few seconds, making sure she didn't try to get up again, Blake finally sat back in her chair. The chair looked familiar...and the room looked familiar...

They were still at school, right?

Slowly looking around the room, Yang confirmed it was the school clinic. But how did she get here? She didn't remember walking. Had someone carried her? And where was everyone else? Blake was here but hadn't there been others...

"Where…?" Yang began to ask, sending a confused look around the otherwise-empty room.

"Ruby went to calm Nora down," Blake answered without hearing the end of the question. "I told her I'd wait with you. She called your dad already. He should be here soon."

Right. Ruby - Nora - Dad on the way. That sort of made sense.

"Mmk," she mumbled again, briefly touching her fingers to the side of her head before pulling them away with a wince of pain. So that's what it felt like to get hit with a sack of bricks...

Catching sight of her hand, she stared at her fingers - but had no idea why she was so confused. It took several seconds before she figured out that someone had un-taped her hands, and she had no memory of that happening. Glancing down, she found that she was still in her boxing uniform, so at least no one changed her without her noticing. But who took off her gloves? And the tape? And how did she get to the clinic?

"The nurse said you could have a concussion…" Blake commented softly, drawing Yang's gaze away from her unbound hand.

Her mind sluggishly registered that Blake was upset. Gone was the usual sparkle of mirth in her eyes, replaced by worry. Was this the first time Yang had seen an upset version of Blake? Yes, maybe. Then why did it feel familiar? Where had she seen that look before?

With her head still ringing, it was difficult to pull _any_ memories to mind, let alone a specific one.

"Are you...ok?" Yang asked, feeling a spike of worry that Blake responded to by looking even more concerned.

"I'm fine, Yang." Holding out her arms, Blake turned them over to show that she was uninjured before leaning closer. "You're the one who's hurt today…"

Slowly processing that information, Yang eventually nodded and instantly regretted moving her head. But Blake was ok, which was good. Why did she think that Blake might be hurt?

"Glad you're ok…" Yang whispered while closing her uninjured eye and reaching up to gently touch her swollen left eye. It was too tender to touch, but she could feel heat rising off of it while blood rushed to the surface of her skin. Hearing a rustling noise, she opened her eye and watched Blake grab something off of the nearby table.

"Here - ice for your eye."

Accepting the small bag wrapped in a soft cover, Yang leaned back and set it over her eye - an experience that was both painful and relieving at the same time. Sighing as relief spread through her tense muscles, she didn't say anything for a long time. Or maybe it was only minutes...it was hard to tell. But as the chill crept from the ice to her eye, more of the fog cleared from her mind. That, and the ringing started fading away, making way for the stillness in the room.

It was nice...and mostly quiet, minus the dull ringing in her ears. It would be peaceful too if not for the general throbbing in her head and stiffness in her neck.

Peeking her eye open, she found that Blake was still there, sitting silently in the chair while keeping a watchful eye on her.

"Does anything other than your head hurt?" Blake asked, keeping her voice to a low enough level that it didn't add to the pounding in Yang's head.

"Just my pride…" Yang mumbled while gently resituating the bag of ice on her eye. If her head ever stopped throbbing, she'd fully feel the mortification at having been leveled in front of all her friends _and_ Blake.

That's what happened, right? The last thing she remembered was boxing. Emerald. The bell sounded, the round ended. And then, a glimpse of a bright green boxing glove hurtling towards her face. Seeing as how she was now laying in the clinic with one eye swollen shut and a distant ringing in her ears, she had to conclude that Emerald cold-clocked her between rounds. Just when she thought that girl couldn't get any more evil…

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Blake replied firmly, scooting forward to be that much closer to Yang's side. "Everyone saw exactly what she did, and it didn't look even remotely legal. Your coach had some...very choice words for Salem's coach."

Coach Ironwood going off on someone? He was always so composed though. Made of iron! Or wood. That was the running joke. They could hardly get him to crack a smile, let alone get angry about something.

"Wish I could've seen that…" Yang whispered. Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a long exhale while the room lapsed into a comfortable silence. The fog was lifting, and she tried to get rid of it faster. But clearing away the fog meant she felt all of the pain - it was really a lose-lose situation.

Hearing a soft sigh, she slowly turned her head so she could see Blake better with her good eye. Finding that Blake was still visibly upset, she tried to come up with something that would cheer her up. Something...anything...if her brain would work properly.

"So...how'd I do?" she asked, cracking a smile when Blake managed a light laugh.

"Well, I don't think you've changed my mind about boxing."

"Next time will be better; you'll see."

"I don't know...I wasn't very fond of watching one of my favorite people take a cheap shot to the head."

Tilting her head at the term, Yang felt her grin widen. One of Blake's favorite people? She could live with that label forever and die happy.

"So you're jealous some other girl got to knock me out," she teased, pleasantly surprised when she thought she saw a faint blush dust across Blake's cheeks. But with basically zero vision out of one eye, it was hard to tell if it was a blush or just her remaining eye messing up.

Fortunately, the joke had eased the tension and Blake appeared to be a little less upset, shifting more comfortably in her seat.

"At least now we know who would win between _Nora_ and Emerald in a fight…"

Nora and Emerald? But why would Nora be - oh.

"Is Nora ok?" Yang asked, filled with immediate concern thinking about what Emerald might do in a fight without rules. Even _with_ rules she was a malicious fighter, but without them...

"Yeah. Yeah, she's fine," Blake replied quickly, already understanding Yang's worry. "But it took three people to separate them. It looked like Emerald definitely got the worst of it..."

"And I missed it?" Yang mumbled. "Dang…"

Nora kicking Emerald's butt? What a lame time to be knocked out. She would've paid good money to see that fight - and she would've wanted to be there to back Nora up.

"It was...pretty much complete chaos," Blake explained, frowning at the memory. "The second after Emerald hit you, Nora plowed into her like a freight train - shoved her right out of the ring. While they beat the crap out of each other on the floor, your coaches were yelling at them to stop while trying to keep the rest of your teammates from joining in. And...a-and you were…"

Briefly biting her lip, Blake cleared her throat before continuing.

"And you were...really out of it…"

Shocked by the rundown of events, Yang opened her mouth but couldn't think of anything more profound than a simple, "Wow."

"Wow is right," Blake agreed before briefly rubbing her eyes. "Your coach was really angry about Emerald's gloves though."

"Yeah…" Gently removing the ice from her eye, Yang set the bag on the bed beside her. "They were filled with something."

Now _that_ she remembered. Those gloves were way too hard to be anywhere near regulation. She was about to ask the referee to check them when Emerald clocked her.

"Will she get into trouble?"

"Probably not...she does this stuff all the time, but she wins so they let her get away with it. It's not usually on _this_ scale, but...she's a dirty fighter. Always has been."

"So...would you fight her again?"

"I might _have_ to if she makes it into the tournament at the end of the season." The thought made Yang frown towards her hands while her head pounded a little harder.

"But she just tried to kill you."

"I dunno about kill…" she mumbled, closing her eyes to escape the bright lights that seemed to aggravate her head. "Definitely wasn't well intentioned though…"

"She _could have_ killed you," Blake pressed.

"She's a bully," Yang replied while waving off the concern. "They'll do anything to put someone down. Can't let 'em get to you."

"There's a difference between standing up to someone and putting yourself needlessly in harm's way, Yang."

The forcefulness of the reply made Yang open her eye and stare at Blake for several seconds. Why was Blake so upset about this? Yang had been doing this since she was nine years old. Sometimes bullies got the best of her, but it was rare.

"She cheats because she knows she can't beat me," she explained. "And I can still win. I just need to not turn around when she says something."

"Clearly she dislikes something about you personally, Yang. She's not going to stop doing this if you keep going out there."

Yang looked at Blake carefully - perplexed by the resoluteness in her tone and the firmness in her eyes. She wanted Yang to stop...what? Standing up to Emerald? Standing up to everyone?

"But if I don't put her in her place, who will?"

It was a genuine question that Blake didn't have an answer to. Her mouth opened, but no words appeared while they stared at each other. Finally, she sighed and leaned forward, resting one hand on top of Yang's while leveling her with a concerned gaze.

"If you're in charge of standing up for everyone, who stands up for you?"

That tingling sense of familiarity tugged at Yang's mind when Blake's eyes grew damp with emotion and she turned her gaze towards the floor. As she did so, locks of raven hair fell over her shoulders like a veil, and Yang's heart thumped achingly at the thought of having caused Blake this type of pain. Blake was too kind and caring to cry...and Yang certainly didn't like being the cause of it.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized. For what, she wasn't quite sure - for making Blake worry, for making her feel this way, for having any role in causing those tears - but Blake immediately shook her head.

"Please don't be..." Blake whispered towards the floor. Taking a few seconds to collect herself, she sucked in a shaky breath, wiped the back of one hand across her eyes, and returned her gaze to Yang with a wavering smile. But her lashes were still damp with tears and her eyes were now lined in faint red.

And Yang suddenly remembered why it felt so familiar - because she'd seen this person before. Not at Vale High - sometime before - sometime long ago.

"Have we met before?" she suddenly asked.

"We go to school together, Yang. Same homeroom?" Blake answered, her worry doubling at the unexpected question. But Yang shook her head - a massive mistake that generated a wave of pain that made her close her eyes until it passed.

"No...before. We went to school together before…"

While Yang spoke, she struggled to grasp onto the thread of a memory and pull it into view. It'd be easier to do without that fog clouding the way, but it was there...hidden deep in the recesses of her mind. Blake - much smaller than now, but still her. And four bullies - all boys.

The memory made Yang's lip curl in distaste and anger.

"They made fun of you for reading," she said, clenching her fists when she remembered the four boys pulling Blake's books out of her backpack and throwing them onto the ground. "They made you cry."

Everything came back in a rush at that moment - still cloudy, but clear enough for her to see. She was walking home with Ruby. She punched one of the boys in the nose because they wouldn't stop. They went to the principal's office, and Blake was just like this, only worse - more upset, more...victimized.

That was the day Yang's dad decided to sign her up for boxing lessons - she started the next week. That was the first time she stood up for someone besides Ruby. It all started with -

"Book girl?" she whispered, knowing it was true but not understanding why it hadn't come to light until now. Blake's eyes widened at the name, but any response was cut off by the clinic door opening and someone rushing into the room.

"Yang!" her dad called out, hurrying to the other side of the bed and kneeling down so she could read the concern in his eyes. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Dad…" she said while he prodded at her. "Just a little woozy."

"'A little woozy' doesn't explain why you're down to just one eye," he replied, sitting back and looking at her with an expression that expected a response.

"I should get going," Blake cut in quietly, standing and grabbing her bag from the floor. "I hope you feel better, Yang. We can...talk later..."

As best she could, Yang watched Blake slip out of the room without another word.

Her mind still reeled from the revelation she just uncovered. How did it take so long to piece two-and-two together? Why had it taken Blake's tears to jog her memory? They went to school together before. Yang watched Blake get teased in the halls for loving to read, and did nothing about it.

"What happened?" her dad pressed, not allowing her a moment to digest her discovery. "Ruby only said that you got knocked out and I needed to come right away."

"Yeah...she kinda decked me after the bell rung…" Yang mumbled. "Now who's bell is rung, huh?"

From his dumbstruck expression, he had no idea what to do with that response. A laugh might've been appropriate, but apparently it wasn't that funny.

" _Between_ rounds?" he asked in shock.

"Yup. Good thing you weren't here," she added, closing her eyes and picking up the bag of ice. "Pretty sure your face would never be normal again. Not that it ever has been."

Imagining his reaction, she grinned at the tease.

"Glad your wit is still intact," he replied. "And _she's_ the one who's lucky I wasn't here."

"Did you just threaten a high schooler?" Yang asked in amusement, peeking one eye open to find her dad with a serious frown set on his face.

"I might have. That girl's been after you ever since you knocked her out freshman year. I had a bad feeling something like this would happen..."

"She dropped her elbow too low," Yang reiterated for the hundredth time before shrugging one shoulder. "What was I supposed to do?"

Ordinarily, she would've shown a little more mercy, but she'd just watched Emerald reduce one of her teammates to tears before the fight started - all with that fake smile set in place. So maybe she'd been a little more...motivated...than usual. When Emerald slipped up, she jumped at the opportunity to teach a little lesson. She felt horrible immediately after...until Emerald got up and spat in her face.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm only saying that she's been out to humiliate you ever since."

"Hmm…" was all she said while thinking about his words. That made sense with what Blake said - it was personal. And with no guarantee that they'd meet each other during the end-of-year tournament, this was Emerald's last opportunity to exact revenge. That explained why she was willing to stoop so low, although Yang wondered if there was even a level that Emerald considered 'too low.'

"I'm just glad you're ok," he concluded with a heavy sigh. "And I'm not letting you into a ring with her ever again."

"Come on, Dad…I was winning before I was dumb enough to turn around."

"Nope," he replied with a firm shake of his head. "You're done fighting against Salem."

Sighing in exasperation, Yang dropped the subject for now. If she somehow got matched against Salem in the tournament though, no way was she sitting out. She'd just beg him to change his mind if that time ever came.

"Pretty sure she won't be able to set foot in this school again anyway," she muttered while allowing her eyes to drift shut. But hearing two light taps on the door, she opened her uninjured eye to watch it open and the school nurse poke her head in.

"You have visitors," she whispered before opening the door. Ruby buzzed into the room as soon as there was enough space for her to squeeze past the door.

"Yang!"

Somehow, Ruby managed to shout Yang's name while also whispering it so as not to hurt her head.

"Hey," she said, smiling and reaching out for Ruby to hold her hand. Behind Ruby, a rather timid-looking Nora and worried Pyrrha walked into the room.

"Mr. Xiao Long?" the nurse asked from the door before nodding towards the lobby.

"I'll be right back," he said. After squeezing Yang's shoulder, he stood and followed the nurse out of the room, most likely to discuss her current health status. Yang's health, not the nurse's.

"Yang," Pyrrha exhaled in relief as the adults left the room. "You look like you're doing much better already."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ruby added from the bed beside Yang. "You were pretty impossible to get over here. All stumbly and super heavy and stuff."

"Sorry I made you worry," Yang said, squeezing Ruby's hand and responding to the fear lingering in her eyes. "But I'm doing fine now."

While Ruby smiled in relief, Pyrrha sat down in the chair Blake had recently vacated, and Nora stepped forward without ever lifting her gaze from the floor. Her entire persona right now was that of a puppy who'd done something wrong and knew it. A welt was rising under one of her eyes and scratches ran up and down her arms, but the injuries didn't appear too serious.

"Heard you beat the crap outta Emerald," Yang said, raising her free fist Nora's way. Immediately breaking into a relieved grin, Nora bounced over and cracked her knuckles against Yang's.

"You bet I did!"

The volume of Nora's voice made Yang wince, which Pyrrha noticed and made a soft 'shhh'ing sound to calm Nora down.

"She never saw me coming," Nora continued in a hushed voice. "Took her right off her feet like _wham_!" She smacked one hand enthusiastically into her other. "Flipped her over the ropes and pinned her to the floor. She couldn't even _hope_ to get up."

"Maybe you should get into wrestling," Yang suggested with a grin.

"Maybe I should!" Thinking about the idea, Nora's eyes sparkled with glee. "You wanna start a wrestling team with me?"

"Depends. Does Salem have a wrestling team?"

Giggling at the question, Nora shrugged - her happy-go-lucky energy restored.

"They canceled the rest of the fights," Pyrrha explained softly. "Well...the referee disqualified the team and sent them home. It looked like your coach was about ready to step into the ring with theirs."

"Wouldn't that have been awesome, Yang?" Nora added, slapping Yang lightly on the arm. "I wanted it to happen! We've never seen Coach box against someone for real before! And him against Ms. Fall? Oh man...I bet he'd beat the crap outta her. She's so tiny, and he's so freaking tall! Although I bet she's sneaky good - don't you think? Like tricky, right? And you know Emerald learns how to cheat from _somewhere_..."

When Nora finished rambling, Yang locked eyes with Pyrrha.

"So everyone left already?" she asked.

"Their team shot out of here before there was a riot, but a lot of people are still milling around outside."

"The team's still here!" Nora piped in. "I told 'em they couldn't leave until you get to go home. Even if that means we have to sleep here."

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled to stay here overnight…" Yang replied before Ruby bounced eagerly on the bed.

"Can I stay overnight too?"

"Definitely!"

Yang and Pyrrha shook their heads in unison. Of course Ruby would be excited to spend the night at school...

"I believe our rivalry with Salem just grew exponentially larger…" Pyrrha added.

"Oh, you know it. When their track team gets here, I wanna crush 'em." While Ruby spoke, she ground a fist into her palm. "I'm gonna run so fast - I'm gonna lap 'em."

Chuckling at the bold claim, Pyrrha shook her head while Yang reached out and rustled her sister's hair in appreciation.

"I'll make sure to be there for that," she said, earning a wide grin from Ruby.

The door opened, and their dad walked back in then, looking much more relieved than when he'd raced in a few minutes ago.

"Alright Yang, you can go home. We'll just keep an eye on you tonight."

"I'll do that!" Ruby immediately volunteered, raising her hand in the process. "Not just one eye though - I'll keep _two_ eyes on her!"

When Ruby giggled, their dad smiled at her before turning back to Yang.

"Do you want to wait here a bit longer?" he asked, still far more concerned that he probably needed to be.

"I think I'm good," Yang answered before pushing herself into a seated position and then pausing. Waiting for the temporary lightheadedness to abate, she only swung her legs off of the clinic bed when the world stopped swimming.

"I gotcha," Ruby whispered, appearing by Yang's arm and helping steady her while she stood and immediately clamped her mouth shut.

Yup, that was a nice wave of nausea...

When the unmistakable feeling of needing to hurl passed, she took a deep breath and moved several shaky steps forward. It was like she was re-learning how to walk, like somehow her brain had forgotten in the past hour.

"Want me to carry you?" Nora offered, looking just a _little_ too excited about the prospect.

"I'm good," Yang answered. "Gotta leave me with _some_ dignity…"

Eyes trained on the floor, she slowly followed Ruby's lead out of the clinic and into the main office beyond. Hearing multiple people get to their feet and sensing more company surrounding her, she gently lifted her eyes and found her teammates approaching her.

"Wow, nice shiner," someone joked.

"When are school pictures again? I hope they're next week. You'll have the best yearbook photo ever."

"Ha ha very funny," Yang replied with a grin, already feeling uplifted by their light-hearted teasing. "I may be half blind, but I could still take any of you right now."

"She says while leaning on her sister for support…"

"Hey!" Straightening away from Ruby's supporting shoulder, Yang pointed towards her team. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. _Never_ turn around when someone calls you. Like ever. Even if it's your own family."

Smiling when they laughed at her joke, Yang leaned towards Ruby.

"Now take me home, lil sis!"

Trying to ignore the throbbing in her head, Yang headed out into the atrium of the school with her teammates giving her a chorus of 'feel better's as she left them behind. Walking was a little easier now that she'd regained her balance, but she kept her eyes trained on the floor regardless. All of the colors and motion were enough to make her feel a little woozy and confused whenever she briefly looked up to see where she was going. Thank goodness for Ruby's subtle help - nothing more than a light touch on her elbow that she knew would turn into a firm grasp if she needed it.

There were a lot of people in the main lobby talking and walking around, but none of them approached her. She felt the eyes on her though - lots and lots of curious eyes following her towards the front doors.

"Let me go get the car," she heard her dad say before he rushed off. Pausing by the exit to school, Yang briefly looked up and saw her dad head outside so he could pull up to the front of the building.

"Like I can't walk an extra twenty feet?" she joked, only loud enough for Ruby to hear and giggle. Glancing towards Pyrrha, Yang caught a glimpse of someone familiar in her unclouded eye.

Blake.

Blake was still here - sitting next to Weiss on the other side of the lobby. Her eyes were trained unflinchingly on Yang, who looked back in confusion. She thought that Blake left...but maybe she was waiting for Yang to go home like everyone else seemed to be doing.

This time, Yang didn't bother trying to hide her staring. Instead, she fully turned so she could see Blake perfectly with her good eye.

Could that really be the same girl? In her mind, they were completely different people. One was small and needed protecting. The other was...well, Blake.

When Ruby tried to take a step forward, Yang refused to budge. She didn't want to leave. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask right now. And she just...she didn't want to leave Blake sitting there. Not with the secret out in the open but hanging between them undiscussed.

"I'm going to miss our date…" she whispered, and that realization made her feel worse than anything else that had happened up to that moment. She'd been looking forward to tonight...and she thought that Blake had been too.

"I'll update her," Pyrrha whispered back before squeezing Yang's shoulder. "I'm sure she'll understand, so don't worry. Feel better."

With a parting smile, Pyrrha walked across the lobby and stopped by Blake's side. Blake immediately stood up to speak with Pyrrha, but her eyes never left Yang's. Even while Pyrrha spoke, Blake nodded but never looked away.

Hopefully, Pyrrha told her how sorry Yang was that this ruined the evening they'd planned...and that this wasn't what she'd wanted to happen. And that they really, _really_ needed to talk soon.

"Yang," Ruby said with a more forceful tug at her arm, trying to get her to move outside.

"Come on, honey," their dad added, holding the door open and gesturing her forward. "Let's get you home."

Finally tearing her eyes away from Blake, Yang walked slowly through the door and accepted Ruby's help heading down the front steps to the car waiting just a few feet away. Her dad opened and closed the door for her, and Ruby hopped into the back seat beside her instead of sitting up front.

Closing her eyes and leaning against the window, she let out a long sigh as they set out on the short trip home.

This wasn't at all how she'd wanted the day to end, but she wasn't in the condition to do anything other than go home and try to get some rest. Hopefully, tomorrow she'd feel good enough to sort through what just happened.

How had she been so blind though?

All this time...she never even saw it.


	16. Chapter 16

"Yanggg - Yanggggggg -"

Groaning as sleep tried to leave her, Yang rolled onto her back to get away from the pestering voice. Unfortunately, the feeling of someone climbing onto the bed combined with a short giggle told her that she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

"Yannnnggggg wake upppppp -"

The order was nothing more than a whisper - soft but begging. It told her that she _should_ get up, but also shouldn't. But, if she _did_ get up, that'd be pretty great. If she went back to sleep, that'd be pretty great too.

"Yangggggg -"

Groaning again, she gave up and struggled to open her eyes. The moment she was successful, she jolted away from the face hovering inches above her head.

"Jesus Ruby!" she cried out, covering her heart with one hand while Ruby laughed and sat on the pillow beside her.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack…" Mumbling the words, Yang quickly remembered why she'd been sleeping so deeply and why her left eye would hardly open. As her head began to throb, she let out a small moan, collapsed onto her pillow, and dragged the covers over her eyes.

"I'm going back to sleep..." she muttered.

"Aww, Yang!" The words were muffled, but then the covers were tossed up and Ruby squirreled her way underneath. "How are you feeling?" she asked in a hushed voice. "Like a million bucks? Or like you got hit really, really, really hard in the face?"

Yang didn't need to open her eyes to know that Ruby's were sparkling with unconcealed humor right now.

"The second one…" she grumbled, a small smile growing when Ruby giggled. Even though Yang wished her massive headache away, it was impossible to be in a bad mood with Ruby around.

"You were so cute though! All knockered out and discombobulated. You had _no_ idea what was going on. You asked if _I_ was ok like three times! But then you were all adorableeee and wouldn't let go of Blake's handddd."

 _That_ comment made Yang peek one eye open in surprise.

"What're you talking about?"

The question made Ruby beam while answering.

"When she came down to the ring! Everyone was trying to talk to you, but you were so out of it - your eyes were darting around like crazy. But then Blake held your hand, and that seemed to calm you down. When they finally got you up, you wouldn't let go, so she went to the clinic with you."

Blake wasn't even around right now, but Yang felt a serious blush growing. What was worse - that she'd been so transparent with her feelings, or that she got to hold Blake's hand and didn't remember it?

 _Blake_. She needed to talk to Blake.

"I would've gone with you," Ruby added while playfully popping the covers up in the air, "But _man_ was Nora mad. I threw some water on her, and I think she actually steamed!"

Apparently, Yang didn't remember a lot that happened yesterday.

"I'm glad you're ok though," Ruby added. "That was a nasty shot you took."

The lingering concern was only a small lining in Ruby's tone, but Yang could tell it was there regardless.

"You know it'll take more than that to keep me down," she assured Ruby with a grin. "But if this headache doesn't go away soon, I'm knocking myself out to get rid of it."

Ruby's eyes lit up at the words.

"I brought you some medicine though! It's on your nightstand."

"Girls?"

Hearing their dad walk into the room, Ruby held one finger to her lips to silence their conversation.

"Girls..." he repeated slowly.

"No one's hereeee," Ruby called out in a high-pitched voice before giggling.

"Oh. Well in that case, maybe I'll jump on Yang's bed. It looks nice and squishy with the covers piled up like that -"

Eyes widening in surprise, Ruby threw the covers off - the abrupt sunlight blinding Yang and making her cover her eyes with both hands.

"You'd squish your daughters?" Ruby asked in dismay.

"Oh, there you are! Could've sworn a voice told me no one was here," he teased, snatching Ruby out of bed and tickling her sides, making her wiggle and laugh in delight.

"Don't listen to strange voices, Dad!" Ruby got out between giggles. "You never know what the evil spirits might tell you!"

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, setting her down and looking at her closely. "Don't you need to get ready for school?"

"What? But I'm already ready!"

When he gave Ruby's pajamas a look of disbelief, she grinned sheepishly.

"Pajamas are the new thing, Dad," Yang added in Ruby's defense while propping herself up in bed. "Everyone wears them nowadays."

When Ruby giggled, he gave Yang a knowing look.

"You mean to bed. Everyone wears them to bed."

Damn. He was too good at picking out her jokes before she even made them.

"I didn't say _where_ they wear them…" she replied. "Just that they do!"

Shaking his head at the response, he patted Ruby's shoulder before walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"How do you feel?"

"Great!" Yang answered in a chipper voice, even though her head still pounded with a headache. "I think I'm good to go to school."

Even though she threw on a smile for good measure, her dad looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Dad, I'm fine!" she immediately whined, already knowing what he would say next.

"Yang, you might've suffered a _concussion,_ and your eye is still really swollen. I don't think I'd consider either of those 'fine.' But I'm sure it _will be_ fine if you miss one day of school."

Unconvinced by his arguments, she stuck out her lower lip.

"What's gotten into you anyway?" he added. "Normally, you'd jump at the chance to stay home."

Yes, normally she would, but there was someone she really wanted to talk and that someone would be at school. So, if she wanted to talk to that certain someone, she needed to get herself to school too.

"I'm feeling a lot better though, I swear! I mean, compared to last night, I'd say it's like... _night and day_."

He didn't fall for her grin and opted for a serious expression in return.

"Yang, you can hardly see out of that eye."

"I can see perfectly!" she fibbed.

"Then how many fingers am I holding up?"

She saw him raise one arm, but he placed his hand just outside her field of vision. She _would_ be able to see it if she had vision out of both eyes, but she kind of didn't. She _could_ , however, clearly see the three fingers Ruby flashed behind his back.

"Three," Yang answered with a confident smirk.

His brow immediately furrowed, and he glanced over his shoulder in suspicion. Catching the expression, Ruby gave an innocent smile and wave before racing out of the room without another word.

Turning back to Yang, he sighed and slumped his shoulders like he was carrying some great weight.

"Just today?" he asked quietly, his eyes imploring her to agree. "For me?"

"Awww Dad!" she whined, pushing his begging eyes away from her. He and Ruby had that same puppy dog look that was impossible to say 'no' to. It was a curse. Well, a curse for Yang because she was always the one who got suckered into agreeing.

She wanted to go to school, but her head hurt, her eye was almost swollen shut, and then her dad went and pulled the begging face on her...

"Fine. One day," she finally huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. Of course, the answer was what he wanted, so the begging was instantly replaced with a grin. As he stood up, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Now you'll have the weekend to recover and can go back to school feeling better than ever."

"Yeah, I guess…"

After he walked out of the room, she sighed and threw herself back into the covers. It was the _weekend_ too. That meant it would be _three more days_ before she saw Blake again. Three long days...

"Don't worry, Yang! I'll let everyone know you're ok!" Ruby chirped from the doorway, now fully dressed and ready for school.

A second later, Yang listened to the sound of Ruby flying downstairs before racing out the front door. Glancing at the clock by her bed, she knew that even if she tried to get up now, she'd miss all of homeroom and, therefore, any opportunity to speak to Blake this morning. And really, Blake was the only reason she wanted to go to school at all.

Oh well...if she was stuck here all day, she could at least stay in her pajamas and get some more sleep. Her head _did_ hurt, which would make it difficult to pay attention in class. Well, more difficult than it usually was. And she was still really tired - way more tired than she normally was in the morning.

Maybe she kind of agreed with Dad that it was best for her to stay at home...it just sucked because of how she left things with Blake - up in the air and uncertain. More than anything, she wanted to talk and make sure everything between them was ok - that nothing had drastically changed in just one afternoon. Things hadn't drastically changed, had they? Because she hoped not…

Giving up on trying to think right now, she reached over and grabbed the medicine Ruby had left for her. Chasing the pills with a big gulp of water, she drank nearly half the glass before laying down and pulling the covers over her. She was just about to fall asleep when her dad walked in before leaving for work.

"Made you some toast," he whispered, setting the plate beside her bed before leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Call me if you need anything, and I'll come right home."

"Thanks, Dad." Lifting one hand, she covered a yawn. "I'll be fine though. Got my meds, got my ice, got my toast - I'm all set."

"Good. Sleep well."

The door clicked softly on his way out, but she was drifting off to sleep before he even made it downstairs.

It wasn't until much later that she woke up with an even bigger yawn than when she'd fallen asleep. But she finally felt not so tired, and her head wasn't pounding so much anymore. Sure, it still throbbed a little, and her eye was still about as tender as a...well, as a one-day-old black eye, but at least there was _some_ improvement.

Rolling over and checking the clock, she found that it was already past lunchtime. Talk about sleeping the day away...but the extra rest had worked wonders in making her feel better. Maybe she should sleep some more…

The grumbling in her stomach convinced her that it was time to temporarily leave her bed behind. As great as it would be to sleep more, she needed to brush her teeth and splash some water on her face.

Once in the bathroom, she took a good look at her eye - which was a fine-looking shiner if she said so herself. At least she bruised nicely, if that was a thing. But it didn't look like a _bad_ black eye, if that made sense. And the swelling had gone down since this morning, so she could see a little bit.

Overall, not too shabby for getting decked like she had.

Hearing her stomach grumble again, she demolished the toast Dad left before briefly considering going downstairs to find more food, but that sounded like more effort than she was willing to expend at this moment. She'd woken up, but that didn't mean she wanted to do _too_ much work today. Sitting in bed and watching daytime television sounded much easier.

Taking more medicine first, she hopped back into bed and propped up her pillows by the headboard. After switching on the TV and turning down the volume so as not to anger her head, it didn't take her long to find the most dramatic soap opera currently on - doctors, lawyers, and _lots_ of relationship drama. Settling into her pillows, ready for some overacted dramatic goodness, she picked up the ice pack someone had left by her bed and held it gently to her eye. It was mostly just cold water by now, but still usable to combat the remaining swelling.

Signing in content, she discovered she felt better about skipping school if she got to take in some quality soap operas, which she had a secret love of. They were fun to watch because they were _so_ over-the-top. She always wondered if real people found themselves in these situations. Evil twin brothers, love affairs followed by convenient amnesia - had these situations happened to real people before?

After multiple characters revealed crushing secrets or hidden identities in the first few minutes of the show, Yang's mind began to wander. It was actually a little difficult to focus on the drama when...well, she'd uncovered a little drama of her own yesterday, in the form of a memory she'd forgotten from a long, long time ago.

The events leading up to that fateful moment were long gone, but Yang knew that she and Ruby had been walking home from school, like usual. What she remembered clearly - today much more clearly than yesterday - was stumbling upon the interaction by chance. It wasn't like she'd been searching for trouble, but she'd spotted trouble in the distance - the four bullies circled around Blake, who could do nothing more than quietly beg them to stop.

Like all of the memories Yang had of similar situations, this one made her blood boil. It wasn't _right_ to treat someone like that. Not when Blake hadn't done anything to hurt those boys. All she'd been was herself - how was that such a crime?

Clenching her fist, Yang felt this memory sear far hotter because it was _Blake_. How had Yang not remembered? It was _so obvious_.

...to be fair, it was a long time ago. Like a _long_ time ago. And before that day, Yang had only noticed Blake a few times in passing. They never had classes together, and they'd never spoken to each other. Yang was pretty sure she'd never even heard younger Blake speak before then.

Now that Blake was grown up, there was an energy about her that threw Yang off. It was the intelligence, or the confidence, or the poise, or that endlessly-assured grin. It was probably all of those things combined and then some - and Yang hadn't seen through those traits to the person Blake once was.

One thing was certain - those four boys should consider themselves lucky Yang didn't remember their names. Otherwise, she would track them down and lay the beating of a lifetime into each of them. _Blake_. That was Blake they were picking on - the amazing, incredible girl who made Yang's heart do cartwheels and filled her chest with butterflies.

At least, Yang was pretty sure she wanted to cause them harm...until the anger faded away. There was no point in starting a fight when the Blake that Yang knew wouldn't even care if they teased her, just like she hadn't batted an eye when Cardin tried to bully her. Today, Blake was unashamed of reading or of being smart. She was unapologetically herself in every situation.

She wasn't one of the people Yang needed to watch over - she could take care of herself. That was one thing Yang really liked about her, after all. Somehow, she'd transcended the drama of school and became her own person - one who refused to be defined by cliques, popularity, or status. It was pretty incredible, and Yang liked her so, so much for that...

Hearing the doorbell ring, Yang was brought out of her thoughts and back to her bedroom. Glancing at the clock, she figured it was probably around the time the mailman stopped by. Maybe they'd gotten a package today, or maybe Dad had sent a friend to check in and see how she was doing.

Swinging her legs out of bed, she stood and raised her arms high above her head to stretch her back. Once it cracked in the most satisfying way, she trudged downstairs to the front door. Pulling it open, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with the object of her thoughts.

"Blake!"

It should probably be a crime how happy Yang was to find Blake standing on the front porch. And when Blake smiled, a fire lit in Yang's heart that probably wasn't going out anytime soon.

"Hi Yang," Blake replied, her smile suddenly turning much more bashful while her eyes flitted to the side of the door. Only then did Yang realize she was still in her pajamas, which were...well, the tank top was...a little revealing. And the shorts were...a little short.

"I...uh, sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone," she explained while her cheeks flushed.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Blake replied, although her gaze still focused anywhere but on Yang. "Can I come in?"

"Absolutely!" Throwing the door open, Yang moved out of the way and beckoned Blake inside. After stepping in, Blake took a quick look around the entryway before finally meeting Yang's eyes.

"I'm glad you're up. I was worried I'd wake you."

"Naw, I slept all morning," Yang answered, waving off Blake's worry. "I've been watching TV for a while now."

Daytime soap operas...but Blake didn't need to know that.

"I wouldn't mind if you woke me up though," Yang added. If anything, it would be a pleasant surprise to be woken up by Blake. Kind of like how it was a nice surprise to expect the mailman but find that Blake had been delivered instead.

"I'm still glad I didn't - this time," Blake replied with a grin that was a little shier than usual.

Confused by the expression, Yang tilted her head but decided not to pry into the reason right now. Instead, she smiled and asked, "So how'd you find me?"

"Ruby gave me your address. I hope it's ok to stop by like this?"

"Yeah, definitely! You can come by anytime."

Only after saying the words did Yang realize how desperate that sounded. But when she said that Blake could come over anytime, she literally meant that Blake could come over anytime.

"I'll keep that in mind." When Blake's gaze dropped from Yang's eyes for a split second, she turned away again - this time with a faint blush growing.

Feeling her own cheeks heat up in embarrassment, Yang gently tugged at the bottom of her shorts like that might make them longer. When it did no such thing, she motioned for Blake to follow her.

"Uh, come on; I'll go change."

Walking upstairs, Yang turned around at the second-story landing and blushed when Blake's eyes shot to hers a second too late. The faint red on Blake's cheeks was a dead giveaway that she'd just been caught looking somewhere she thought she shouldn't have been. Maybe Yang shouldn't have walked up first…

Or maybe she should have. Did Blake just check her out?

Deciding that her pajamas were an excellent decision, Yang walked into her room and realized that the television was still on.

 _"Drake, I love you!"_

 _"I love you too, Veronica, but we can never be together."_

 _"What? What do you -"_

Lunging for the remote on the end of the bed, she turned the TV off as fast as possible, but Blake was already giving her an amused grin.

"That...the show I was watching must've ended," Yang fudged. Of course, Blake didn't fall for that obvious lie, which she made obvious by her soft "Uh huh…" in response.

While the two of them stood in the middle of the room, Yang blushed when she noticed how Blake's eyes very consciously never met hers. Tugging again at her shorts, she gave an embarrassed grin and pointed towards the bathroom door.

"I'll be right back -" she said, earning a nod from Blake that gave her permission to go. Grabbing a shirt and pair of sweats off the top of the dresser, she hurried into the bathroom and changed at the speed of light. Once that was done, she gave herself a quick once-over to make sure she looked ok. Luckily, it was a pretty typical day for her...minus the black eye.

Only when satisfied that she didn't look like a complete scrub did she walk back into the room and sit down on the edge of her bed. She was going to pat the space beside her for Blake, but Blake was already turning around the desk chair to sit in front of her.

"How are you feeling?" Blake asked, her voice soft and her gaze lingering with a bit of worry around Yang's bruised eye.

"I feel...like I got hit really hard in the head," Yang answered before letting out a short laugh. "Still have a headache and my eye needs another day for the swelling to go down, but other than that I think I'm ok."

"That's good. It already looks better than yesterday. Although the color is worse."

"Yeah, it'll get a bit worse, but as long as the swelling goes down, it's healing!"

Blake nodded at the answer before her gaze drifted around the walls of the room.

"Oh, uh...so this is my room," Yang commented after the fact, drawing Blake's eyes back to her with a hint of a smile set in place.

"It suits you."

Curious about the answer, Yang looked around and tried to figure out what Blake meant. It seemed like a pretty normal room to her. A couple AchieveMen posters hung on the walls, a bookcase stuffed with anything but books, a desk with no homework, a TV with stacks of movies on top…

"Are you saying I'm filled with junk?" she asked, the question making Blake laugh lightly and shake her head.

"I was more referring to your...all-encompassing personality and sometimes random thoughts."

"Random thoughts?" Furrowing her brow, Yang tried to figure out what Blake meant by that comment. She didn't think she was a particularly random person, at least not after growing up with Ruby, so what did -

"Oh no." A way-too-embarrassing scenario suddenly sprang into Yang's mind - one that she really, really hoped hadn't happened. "When we went to the clinic yesterday…" she began slowly, watching Blake for an answer. "I didn't say anything weird, did I?"

She nearly groaned out loud when Blake's eyes lit up and a smile appeared.

"Um, no. No, you didn't."

"Crap. What did I say?"

"Anything that came to mind, really," Blake answered cagily, but she was clearly pleased about something. That smile was back - the one that said she knew something, and Yang had no idea what it was.

But Blake knew lots that Yang didn't, so she decided to drop it for now. Her only other option was to try to pry the information out of Blake and potentially be dealt a death blow of embarrassment. Seeing as how she'd already been knocked out in front of the entire school, she was doing just fine on the humiliation front for now.

In the moments of silence that followed, Blake continued looking around the room while Yang happily observed the way intelligent amber eyes drank in every nook and cranny. If she'd known that Blake was coming over, she would have cleaned but...maybe it was better this way. Everything was on display - and with the pajamas she'd been wearing, she meant pretty much _everything_.

If there was anyone Yang was willing to be that open with, besides Ruby, it was Blake. While a little strange to think about considering they hadn't known each other very long, Yang already trusted Blake as much as any of her other friends. And, when she really thought about it, they'd known each other since grade school - which was longer than she'd known any of her friends.

Shifting her hands, Yang tried to think of something to say to break the silence. There were a lot of different thoughts flying through her mind right now, but there was one in particular that she wished she could have said yesterday.

"I'm sorry I had to cancel -"

"Oh, no, please don't apologize for that," Blake immediately cut in, her eyes pleading Yang not to finish that sentence. "I'd much rather you feel better and then maybe...we can reschedule or something…"

There was a momentary silence after the words while Blake looked down at her hands instead of meeting Yang's eyes. Yang wanted to ask if Blake even _wanted_ to reschedule, but with Blake not making eye contact it felt too awkward to ask.

What if Blake didn't want to reschedule now? What if she didn't want to go on a date with someone who couldn't even remember that they'd gone to school together?

"So...what brings you over?" Yang asked instead, opting for a much safer question.

"Oh." Suddenly remembering something, Blake reached down and rummaged through her bag before pulling out a stack of papers. "I brought the schoolwork you missed today."

"Like I wasn't in enough pain?" Yang teased while taking the pages from Blake's hands and flipping through them. "How did you get all of this?"

"I went to your teachers and asked for it," Blake answered as if that was the easiest question in the world.

"But we don't even have the same schedule."

"I asked Pyrrha for your schedule."

Surprised by the thoughtful gesture, Yang found herself staring at _homework assignments_ and feeling more special than ever. It would've been a nice thing to do if they shared all or even some of their classes, but the fact that Blake got Yang's entire schedule and made time to talk to each of her teachers made her heart flutter in her chest. And then, instead of passing the work off to Ruby, Blake made the trip to deliver it herself.

Was it an excuse to come over? That was something Yang would do, but had Blake thought to do it too?

"Well thank you for doing that," Yang replied with genuine gratitude while setting the stack of papers off to the side of the bed. "Maybe I'll feel good enough to work on it this weekend."

"I hope so."

Again, they lapsed into silence while Blake focused on one of the posters on the wall instead of making eye contact. There was an elephant in the room - Yang felt it. There was something _huge_ from yesterday that they were both avoiding. Something she'd thought about all day. And she had a growing suspicion that it was the reason Blake sought her out today, but Blake wasn't willing to bring it up yet.

But _one_ of them needed to bring it up.

"So…" Yang began to ask before chickening out and changing her question. "So...uh, did anything interesting happen today? You know, while I was gone?"

"Not so much interesting - all anyone talked about was you."

Yang grimaced at the news.

"I was kinda hoping that _wouldn't_ happen."

"People talk about you every day," Blake added with a smile. "But today, it felt like everyone was angry on your behalf. Salem might have a rough year ahead whenever they visit…"

"Serves them right…" Frowning, Yang felt a thread of anger inside of her. With everything that had come up with Blake and then not feeling very well, she hadn't had the opportunity to digest what Emerald did. After trying and trying and _trying_ to be nice, _that's_ what happened? She hoped she never saw Emerald's stupid smile ever again.

"Even Weiss is mad," Blake added, instantly tearing Yang's thoughts away from Emerald.

"Really?"

"She is." Nodding once, Blake looked thoughtful for a second before adding, "Well, it might be more accurate to say she's indignant about the circumstances."

Chuckling at the response, Yang leaned back and shook her head. "Is that smart people talk for saying she doesn't care about me so much as the fact that Emerald cheated?"

"She cares about you," Blake stated adamantly, meeting Yang's eyes for a second before looking away. "She asked if I knew how you were doing…I said I didn't, but I'd try to find out after school was over."

Feeling a sudden downcast air, Yang nearly reached out for Blake's hand, but then Blake sighed and lifted her eyes once more.

"A lot of people asked me how you were," she added. "It's funny...I never thought about how anyone else viewed me until they started asking those questions. They expected me to know…"

When Blake trailed off, Yang reached over and lightly touched her knee.

"Probably because they see us together a lot," she said in an attempt to cheer Blake up. Thankfully, Blake smiled and nodded at the explanation.

"That's exactly it. I guess I'm just...not used to people noticing the good things."

The comment didn't seem to bother Blake in the slightest, but to Yang, it was like taking a knee to the gut. She wished that she could go back in time and change that statement. Or she wished she could say that _she'd_ always noticed how brilliant and incredible Blake was. But she was just as blind as everyone else, and in more ways than one.

When Blake met her gaze with the smallest hint of a smile, Yang finally found the courage to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Because if it felt like an elephant to her, she could only imagine what it felt like to Blake.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a single breath, her voice hardly above a whisper. That was one of the questions flying through her head all day - along with wondering how she hadn't figured it out sooner and how she'd forgotten in the first place.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Blake stared down at her hands for a long time.

"I planned on it," she finally said, earnestly meeting Yang's gaze once more. "I really did. But when you came over and introduced yourself, I just...wanted you to like me."

"Well, you certainly knew how to get my attention," Yang replied with a smile that Blake only briefly returned. Standing up, she quickly sat down on the bed beside Yang - clearly ready to talk now.

"I realized that for you that day was just another fight, but for me...here I was, some nerdy bookworm, and one of the most popular girls in school had just punched a boy in the face. For _me_. Several boys, actually. I held onto that knowledge like a badge of honor even after I transferred."

When Blake paused for a moment, Yang tried to let that knowledge sink in - that Blake had known and had _always_ known who Yang was and what she'd done. That Blake remembered that day far clearer than Yang ever had.

"I figured you never knew my name," Blake continued, her words spilling out faster now - as if she'd been waiting to say them for a long time. "But I knew yours. As you became more accomplished with your boxing, I only felt more honored by what you did for me. I never told anyone, but when people at my school talked about you, I knew I had a connection to you that none of them would ever have."

Hesitating for a second, Blake looked at Yang with a softness in her eyes.

"The more I heard about you, the more I wanted to know what you were like now. So...I found a way to transfer. My parents didn't want me to, but I convinced them that the stronger academics would look better for universities."

"Did you really?" Yang asked in surprise. Nodding in confirmation, Blake looked almost amused by what she'd done - a smile appearing that she held onto while continuing.

"I was actually happy you didn't recognize me," she admitted. "It gave me the chance to see if you'd like me without seeing me as that sad little girl you saved in elementary school. Because I'm not that girl anymore. At least, I hope I'm not."

"You're...definitely not," Yang said, still amazed that _this_ was who that little girl grew up to be. "I mean, look at you." Leaning slightly away, she gestured to Blake. "You're freaking beautiful. And so...collected. You don't let anything get to you."

After briefly lowering her gaze in modesty, Blake peered up at Yang through long lashes.

"What about you, Miss Popular?" came the reply as Blake scooted closer, their legs now touching on the bed. "You were one of the most popular students at _my_ school because of the stories we heard. Yang Xiao Long...gorgeous, friendly, compassionate, successful...whenever they talked about you, I wished I was back there. I always wanted to know if...if I might have a chance with the girl of my dreams, if only I could talk to her one more time..."

Her eyes never leaving Yang's, Blake lifted one hand and gently brushed her fingertips across Yang's unharmed temple, moving a few strands of hair behind her ear. As Blake's words drifted off and her amber eyes dipped for the briefest of moments to Yang's lips, Yang felt her heart beat wildly.

The next second, Blake leaned forward and pressed her lips to Yang's - instantly sending fireworks shooting off in her veins while her skin tingled with goosebumps.

The moment ended too soon when Blake quickly pulled away - yet she stayed close enough that their noses nearly touched, and Yang could pick out every fleck of deep brown in those beautiful amber eyes.

"I never got to say thank you...for that day…" Blake whispered before leaning forward and kissing Yang again.

This one lasted longer than the first, and Yang finally figured out that her mouth was capable of moving too. Pressing forward, she savored the softness of Blake's lips against her own and the smooth, tentative fingers crawling through her hair. Reaching her hand up, she tucked a strand of raven-colored hair behind Blake's ear right when Blake pulled away again - still staying no more than a breath's distance apart.

"So thank you…for standing up for me."

Blake's voice was slightly breathless, and their eyes locked together while Yang breathed through slightly-parted lips and struggled to get her heart under control.

"Uh…" Clearing her throat when her voice cracked, she stared into Blake's eyes while her heart pounded like a drum in her chest. "Um, you're welcome?"

She'd been a young, brash kid who didn't like bullies and wasn't afraid of a fight. She was still young, brash, and not afraid of a fight, but she never considered how her actions might have impacted anyone other than the bullies she put in place.

Smiling at the flustered response, Blake reached up and curled her fingers around Yang's ear before leaning forward again. But, before another kiss could happen, the sound of the front door opening stopped Blake's progress.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted from downstairs.

"Dammit Ruby…" Yang muttered under her breath when Blake leaned away.

Biting her lip while glancing at the door, Blake briefly looked unsure about whether she should stay or leave. Eventually, she made a decision, grabbed her bag, and stood up.

"I hope you can make it to school on Monday," she whispered while walking to the door, her eyes never leaving Yang's. "It's not the same without you."

With one last smile, Blake opened the door right as Ruby was about to throw it open.

"Oh! Hey Blake!"

"Hi Ruby," Blake responded before ducking out, but not without sending one last glance towards Yang.

Heart still pounding in her chest, Yang watched Blake disappear before focusing on Ruby, who ran over and jumped onto her bed.

"I ditched practice so I could make sure you're ok!" Ruby explained while rustling over to sit by Yang's side.

"Ah, thanks Ruby!" Reaching out, Yang gave her sister a quick hug. One day, she'd tell Ruby that the kind gesture had probably cost her quite a few kisses with her beautiful classmate, but that was a story for another day.

"You and Blake get along really well!"

"Yeah, she…" Turning towards the door, Yang cleared her throat and hoped that Ruby couldn't tell that she was blushing. "She brought over the schoolwork I missed."

"That was nice of her."

"Yeah...it was…" Yang answered while absentmindedly staring towards the bedroom door.

Blake was definitely nice. And she smelled vaguely of vanilla. And her lips were soft…

And Yang still had a massive crush on her. Maybe an even bigger crush than before.


	17. Chapter 17

By the time evening rolled around, Yang felt substantially better than when she'd woken up. Apparently, the combination of pain medicine, ice, and Ruby's incessant chattering worked wonders in nursing someone back to health. Plus, it was hard to dwell on the pain lingering behind her eye when she was so focused on what happened with Blake earlier that afternoon.

As soon as she thought about the moment, her heart burst into a flurry of butterflies. Good thing she wasn't hooked up to a heart rate monitor or something - otherwise, Ruby would freak out every other minute when the beeps suddenly went haywire.

But Blake kissed her. _Kissed her_. Twice, actually. Right on the lips.

Raising one hand, Yang gently touched her bottom lip before letting her arm fall back to her side and trying to stem the tide of desire in her chest. What would have happened if Ruby hadn't come home early? Blake had looked ready to steal another kiss - and god knows Yang was more than willing to surrender that and then some.

If it ever became possible to travel back in time, Yang would go back and thank her younger self for making an ill-advised decision that could have gotten her suspended. She hadn't even been suspended, which only made this even sweeter.

 _Blake_ was book girl. The super quiet girl who kept to herself and did nothing but read outside of class - _that_ was Blake.

 _'_ _People used to call me 'book girl' because I always had a book in my hand.'_

Nearly groaning out loud at the memory, Yang shook her head and contemplated kicking herself for being so stupid. Blake _already said that she was book girl_. She came right out and gave the nickname, yet Yang still failed to connect the dots.

Clearly, she wasn't the most observant person in the world...

Letting out a sigh that escaped Ruby's attention, Yang scooted back on her bed and absentmindedly flipped through the channels on the TV. They'd already finished dinner, which she was actually able to eat tonight. Now, Ruby laid across the foot of the bed playing a game on her phone while Yang lamented her lackluster memory.

How had she missed all those clues?

That day was important to her too, but in a much different way. When she looked back on it, she remembered being ecstatic that she hadn't gotten in trouble. _And_ her dad hadn't grounded her for picking another fight.

The moment was so long ago now, however, that she couldn't even remember what happened the next day. She vaguely recalled looking for Blake at school, but Blake was already gone. And then...that was it. Everything past that day was a blur of memories that had nothing to do with Blake. Winter break, summer break, back to school...years and years passed by.

With each day that fell behind, she forgot about that moment - it became nothing more than a vague event from long ago. She'd remembered the lesson but not the source of it. And she was so determined with her new goal that she easily found more kids who needed help just like Ruby. She immediately set out to make new friends, but...none of those people were Blake.

Blake disappeared without a trace.

...or had she?

Dropping the remote on the bed beside her, Yang suddenly realized that the statement wasn't entirely accurate. Blake _had_ left a trace behind, but Yang hadn't remembered it. Pretty much par for the course then.

"Do you know where our boxes from grade school are?" she asked.

"Pretty sure they're in the attic," Ruby answered without looking up from her game. "Why?"

As soon as Ruby confirmed the location, Yang hopped out of bed and walked to the bedroom door.

"Lookin' for something," she replied on her way out. Making a noise of surprise, Ruby scrambled into the hallway after her.

"Dad said you're supposed to take it easy!"

"Going up into the attic isn't hard," Yang said over her shoulder while Ruby followed. "Unless you consider one set of stairs difficult?"

"'Course not! But I can see out of both eyes!"

"Then why don't you use your superior vision to help me?" Yang teased. Already standing under the entrance to the attic, she pulled down the folded-up ladder that led upstairs. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the handrail and clambered up, already knowing that Ruby would help.

Making it to the top of the steps, she sat down on the ledge and scooted across the wood floor of a small room that wasn't quite tall enough to comfortably stand in. After grasping above her head in the dark, she found a small chain that turned on a set of lights Dad installed after they moved in. One pull and the lights illuminated a dry, dusty space stacked with boxes.

When she got into Vale High - and Ruby was already being heavily recruited - they decided it was time to leave their tiny house by the elementary school behind. Luckily, they found a place near their new school that was also closer to their dad's work. But moving meant that most of their little kid stuff was packed into boxes and stored away in the attic.

"What're you looking for?" Ruby asked while climbing into the attic and kneeling on the floor opposite of Yang.

"A book from elementary school."

"What's the title?"

"I don't remember," Yang answered, looking at the stack of boxes closest to her.

"That makes this more of a challenge!" Ruby remarked before scooting over to the boxes on her side. "No...no...no..." she muttered to herself while reading the labels on the side of each box.

Turning her attention to her own set of boxes, Yang tilted her head so she could read the handwritten labels. Since Dad had set them loose with black markers and very little instruction, some of the labels were written upside down, and none of them were in the same place.

"Oh, here's some!" Ruby called out before pulling two boxes off of a stack and setting them closer to the entrance of the attic. Peering over at them, Yang saw the horribly-scrawled handwriting on the sides - hers and Ruby's for sure.

"And some more," Ruby huffed while shoving two more boxes over. "Do you want me to help look over there?"

"I got it," Yang replied, systematically searching her way through the stacks of boxes.

Ruby could work faster because she had the benefit of two good eyes, not because she was faster at reading scribbles. At least, that's what Yang was going to tell herself.

"Aha," she remarked after locating another box from grade school. Taking two of Dad's boxes off the top of it, she set them to the side and pulled over the one she wanted.

Behind that stack was the holy grail - three more boxes with her sloppy handwriting covering the sides.

"Bingo."

After maneuvering around to make some room, she sat down in front of her find and began this search in earnest. As she pulled the tape off the first box, she heard Ruby do the same from across the attic.

"My monkey backpack!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling out a well-worn brown backpack and holding it up in the air. After examining the forgotten treasure, however, her face fell. "Is it still a monkey if it doesn't have a tail?"

When Ruby held the bag up for Yang to see, she chuckled.

"Do you remember how the tail tore off?" she asked while searching through another box. Turning the bag over in her hands, Ruby shook her head and looked at Yang curiously.

"No - what happened?"

"You wanted to play tug-of-war with it," Yang answered, smiling at the look of shock dawning on Ruby's face. "Remember? Monkey-of-war, you called it."

"What?!"

Laughing at Ruby's surprise and disbelief, Yang nodded.

"Yup. Turns out, monkeys aren't meant for war."

" _That's_ why I lost Mr. Monkey?" Looking at the bag in her hands, Ruby seemed to be in disbelief that it was her idea that led to the item's demise.

"Yeah, but then you got Mr. Squidly - remember him?"

As expected, a goofy grin found its way onto Ruby's face as she gazed towards the roof in memory.

"Mr. Squidly...he was so cool. Wait, he should be up here too!" Setting the first backpack off to the side, Ruby practically dove into the box in search of her second-most-favorite bag. Laughing at Ruby's newfound determination, Yang returned her attention to the contents of the box in front of her.

Gently moving items around in search of any books, she found nothing but random odds and ends that a grade schooler would deem essential to living. Extra flat and smooth rocks, great for skipping across a lake or pond. Various sculptures made out of brightly-colored clay. Awards certificates from school - for perfect attendance, go figure. Basically, a lot of junk.

Hearing a joyful squeal, Yang looked over and found that Ruby had been successful in her side quest, and now held a gray squid backpack up in the air.

"You found him," Yang said while shoving the first box away and pulling over the next one.

"I did! And look - he's in great shape too!" Holding the bag over the entrance to the attic, Ruby waved it so the tentacles dangling from the bottom wiggled in every which direction.

"You should use that as your backpack now."

While Yang meant the suggestion as a tease, Ruby pursed her lips and furrowed her brow - the expression implying that she took it as serious advice.

"I could…" she mumbled while unzipping the bag and looking inside. "Oh my god. Yang, I left candy bars in here!"

When Ruby pulled out five regular-sized chocolate bars, Yang burst out laughing.

"I dare you to eat those."

"They're like ten years old!"

Lifting the chocolate to her nose, Ruby took a delicate sniff and shrugged.

"Why the heck would you leave candy bars in there anyway?" Yang asked.

"Pretty sure I thought it'd be helpful in an emergency. Like if we ran out of food, don't worry because we still have chocolate!"

Chuckling at young Ruby's logic, Yang shook her head and tore open the second box to look inside.

"Always thinkin' ahead," she teased at the same time.

"You would've thanked me if it happened!" Grinning, Ruby set the chocolate and the backpack off to the side and kept digging around in one of the boxes. "Nope...no books in here!"

Staring into her new box, Yang reached inside and carefully pulled out a pair of old boxing gloves.

"Wow." Turning them over in her hands, she ran her fingers across the broken-in leather. "Ruby, look how small these are!"

When Yang held them up in the air, Ruby looked over and laughed.

"Did your hands ever fit in those?"

"Must have." Flipping them over, Yang tried to squeeze her hand inside, with little success. "I think this was my first pair. Dad must've kept them."

After taking another good look at the unexpected memento, Yang smiled and set them beside her. Searching through the remaining items and finding nothing of note, she shoved the box off to the side and pulled the third box over. This one was aptly labeled - 'Yangs - not Rubys.'

"Ever wonder why we keep this stuff?" she asked while using her fingers to pry the tape off.

"So we can remember what happened! Otherwise, we'd forget too much."

"You think so?" Yang asked distractedly, pulling a couple of stuffed rabbits out of the box and looking at them in confusion. "But I don't remember these at all."

"That's cuz those are mine!" Ruby cried out before snatching them from Yang's hands.

"Then what're they doing in my box?"

"You probably stole them to pack your…" Scooting over, Ruby craned her neck so she could look into the box. "Your coloring books? Really?"

Pulling out one of the books, Yang flipped it open and shook her head.

"This isn't mine either - I didn't color like this. A green and purple toucan? A red and silver leopard?" Grinning, she tossed the book to Ruby so she could take a look.

While Ruby flipped through the pages, Yang turned back to the box and pulled out the rest of the books. Nope, nope, nope - it was all coloring books. Except for -

Finding a book that wasn't the same size as the others, she quickly discarded everything else and found herself holding exactly what she was searching for. There, hidden amid Ruby's old coloring books, was the small paperback Blake gave Yang all those years ago.

"Jesus, Blake," Yang muttered when she recognized the title. "You were reading this stuff in fourth grade?"

Having the book in her hands, she remembered that she'd _tried_ to read it, but it was too hard for her to understand at the time. Seeing as how she just read it a couple of years ago in her _high school_ literature class, she could understand why.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Duck-walking across the attic, Ruby looked over Yang's shoulder to see what it was. "Oh hey! I just got that for my lit class! You could've just borrowed mine if you wanted."

Running her hand across the cover before flipping through the pages, Yang smiled down at the treasure she hadn't remembered saving.

"This one is special…"

"Is it easier to understand? Cuz then maybe I'd like to borrow it."

When Ruby jokingly tried to snatch the book out of her hands, Yang pulled it away and held it above her head so Ruby couldn't reach.

"Sorry, Ruby. You're gonna have to learn the hard way like I did."

Making a few more playful grabs above Yang's head, Ruby finally sighed and gave up with a pout.

"Awe...but that's no fun. It's so confusing!"

"You'll get through it," Yang teased, reaching over to ruffle Ruby's hair all over the place. "And if you need help, I'm sure Weiss would be _more_ than willing to tutor you."

The suggestion made Ruby smile in a heartbeat, and Yang noticed the conspicuous lack of denial at the claim. So Weiss _would_ tutor Ruby, huh? That was no longer surprising.

"Let's put this stuff back though," Yang added while gesturing to the mess they'd made. Setting the book by the attic stairs, she shoved everything back into their respective boxes and clamped down the lids while Ruby did the same. Since they'd torn off the tape, they couldn't actually seal the boxes again, but Yang would just come back up here and do that later.

After shoving everything away from the exit, she dusted off her hands and gave Ruby a nod of success before scooting over to the ladder. Grabbing her prize for coming up here, she made her way downstairs while keeping one hand on the railing.

"You're taking those with you?" she asked when she noticed Ruby carrying the candy bars in her hand. "You know I was kidding, right? Please don't eat those."

"But what if they're still good?"

"I'll buy you new ones! Just throw those out!"

Looking down at the chocolate bars, Ruby let out a remorseful sigh.

"Ok…" she reluctantly agreed. "But can you get the ones with the little crispy things in them?"

Smiling at the request, Yang jumped off the last step and onto the hallway floor.

"Sure. Whatever you want."

After Ruby scrambled down the steps - with her new/old squid backpack on her back - the two of them folded the ladder up and pushed it back into place. With their mission complete, Yang clapped one hand on Ruby's shoulder. and smiled

"Thanks for the help," she said, making Ruby beam in delight.

"No problem! I mean, I kinda got something out of it too." Turning around, Ruby wiggled so the tentacles on the backpack flew all over the place.

"You're not _actually_ taking that to school, are you?"

"Sure! Why not?"

"Because it looks like a little kid's backpack!" Yang explained, reaching out and flipping a pair of tentacles in the air.

"No one else will have a backpack like this!" Ruby refuted before breaking out a wide grin. "Plus, I think it's cool!"

Chuckling at the typical Ruby response, Yang shook her head but let the topic go. If Ruby liked something, she would wear it/use it/watch it/whatever she wanted. It never crossed her mind that it might be weird or that other people might make fun of her for it. And that's exactly how Yang wanted her little sister to grow up - free to be whoever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do.

"Why don't we play some Squid-of-War?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows before taking a swipe towards the backpack. Jumping out of reach, Ruby held her hands in the air like she was going to karate chop Yang to keep her away.

"You stay away from Mr. Squidly!" Ruby cried out before waving her hands in defense. "Don't make me like...poke your eye!"

"Poke my eye? Is that the worst you can do?"

"You know it'll hurt pretty bad."

"Probably not." Testing her theory, Yang gently touched her bruised eye and immediately winced. "Ok, you're right."

When Yang raised both hands in defeat, Ruby relaxed and smiled.

"What're you going to do now?" she asked before waving towards the book Yang still clutched in one hand. "You gonna read that?"

Holding it up and looking at it, Yang briefly considered the idea before shrugging.

"I dunno. Maybe."

She hadn't put any thought into _what_ she wanted to do with the book - she just wanted to see if she still had it. Now that she'd found it, she should figure out her next step.

"If you _do_ read it, think you could write a three-page report at the same time? Or like...jot down some notes or something?"

When Yang shook her head, Ruby stuck out her bottom lip before quickly shrugging off the pout.

"Can't blame me for trying! Do you need help finding anything else?" When Yang shook her head again, Ruby grinned. "Then I'm gonna call Weiss! She said I could call after seven to talk."

Yang tried to hide her surprise at the response, but her eyes briefly widened before she forced a nonchalant expression.

Now they were talking on the phone at night? _Every_ night, or was this a one-time thing? Either way, that was a bit more serious than hanging out at school and over breaks and…

Yeah, they hung out a lot too.

"Hey," Yang said, reaching out to stop Ruby before she ran off to her room. "About Weiss…"

While Yang trailed off, Ruby looked at her with those wide, innocent eyes - seemingly oblivious to any possible direction this conversation could take. Did Ruby understand what her feelings for Weiss meant? Did she suspect anything? Or was it one of those things that just...was?

"You two get along really well, don't you?" Yang asked instead, watching Ruby's eyes change - softening even further if that was possible.

"I really like her," Ruby answered honestly, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness that immediately dissolved with a wide smile. "She's my favorite person to hang out with besides you!"

At least Yang was still in first place...for now.

"I just wish you guys got along better…" Ruby added as her brow knit together.

"Hey." Yang lightly tapped on Ruby's head to make the concerned expression fade away. "I like Weiss, you know."

After blinking in uncertainty, Ruby looked at Yang with narrowed eyes.

"You do?"

"Yeah!" Yang made sure to smile and answer genuinely, so it didn't come across as a joke. "I mean, I like giving her a hard time, and I like that she teases me right back. But most of all, I like that she makes you happy."

When Yang tapped Ruby's shoulder while saying the words, Ruby broke into a huge smile.

"She does!"

"Then you don't ever have to worry about her and me," Yang concluded with a smile of her own. "We get along just fine."

Not losing an ounce of that big smile, Ruby nodded enthusiastically before adding a "Thanks, Yang!" and bouncing towards her room - those ridiculous tentacles swinging like crazy as she went.

When Ruby's door closed, leaving Yang alone in the hall, she closed her eyes and sighed. That felt like she'd just given away her little sister. At the very least, she'd given Ruby the green light to do...whatever she wanted to do with Weiss.

Ok, maybe not _whatever_ she wanted to do. But if she wanted to be more than friends with Weiss, Yang didn't want to stand in the way of that - definitely not because Ruby was worried about how the two of them got along. They got along fine! For the most part…

Yang could make more effort to tolerate Weiss though...and she would. She'd start that immediately, for Ruby's sake.

Tapping her fingers against the spine of the book in her hand, she tried to decide what she wanted to do next. Since Ruby was busy with Weiss and there was nothing good on TV, she headed downstairs instead of going back to her room. Walking across the entryway and into the kitchen, she fell into one of the dining room chairs and set the book on the table in front of her.

That's when she spotted a single, red rose sitting in a small vase in the center of the table. Grinning at the familiar flower, she pulled it over to look at.

If there was any benefit to this newfound spring of emotions, it was that it made Weiss predictable. Predictable Weiss meant that Yang would have even more opportunities to tease the girl than usual. Although...while the rose was exactly as she remembered it, she didn't remember having such a pretty vase to put it in.

It was small - built to hold one flower - but beautiful, with tiny snowflakes etched into the glass. Neptune had only gifted the flower, which meant Weiss had taken Yang's advice and went a step further by finding and buying an actual vase. As Ruby's older sister, she appreciated the extra effort.

After pushing the rose back to the center of the table, she stared at the cover of the book for several long moments of silence. Eventually picking it up, she flipped it over in her hands, read the description on the back, then glanced at the title once more. Then she turned it over and read the description again, while the names of the main characters sparked another memory to life.

This was the same book Blake showed her in the library.

Searching through the chapters, Yang discovered that the page with Blake's favorite quote had already been dog-eared. It was the same quote Yang read aloud only a few days ago.

Blake had certainly given her plenty of chances to uncover the truth...

Suffering through even more disbelief that she never figured this out, Yang opened the front cover and found Blake's handwritten message scrawled inside.

'To Yang - Thank you for standing up for me.'

As she stared at words written years ago, the enormity of that moment sank in.

Blake was book girl. That was something Yang already knew, but now she _remembered_. Book girl. The little girl who was always reading and being teased by classmates for being a 'nerd.' The little girl that Yang stuck up for because...she didn't even know why she'd done it. She just had.

It was that day that Yang swore she'd never let another classmate go friendless because they were 'weird.' She would be their friend. She would be everyone's friend. Because no one deserved to be treated that way.

That was her mission ever since that day - befriend everyone. She found a purpose in going out of her way for those who were less popular. That's how she and Ruby became friends with Penny - the sweetest girl Yang had ever met. And Nora - the loose cannon who Yang convinced to get into boxing and was now one of her closest friends. And then Ruby went and befriended Weiss - the know-it-all rich girl who didn't have any true friends.

It all started with Blake - the one Yang hadn't helped.

'Thank you for standing up for me.'

That day was important to Blake, but it played a huge role in Yang's life as well. She just hadn't remembered it the same way Blake had.

Hearing footsteps approaching the kitchen, Yang tore her eyes away from Blake's handwriting as her dad walked into the room.

"What've you got there?" he asked curiously.

"An old book," Yang answered, willingly handing it over when he gestured for it.

"Ah. I remember this one," he said, flipping open the cover before setting it in front of her and tapping the top. "This was you versus four boys."

"You remember that?" she asked, looking at him in surprise when he nodded and sighed.

"Of course. I remember every one of them - I was called into the aftermath, you know."

"Sorry I got you called into the principal's office so much," she teased. Shaking his head, he reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

"It's nothing to apologize for. I raised you to speak up when you saw something wrong. You chose a different way of speaking up, but you did all the same."

Curling one of her hands into a fist on top of the table, she looked at her clenched fingers closely. Was fighting really a way of speaking out? She'd never thought of it that way. It was just...a way to get the bullies to stop.

"So, if you think about it, this is all _your_ fault," she joked, making him chuckle.

"I _also_ taught you to take responsibility for your actions. Or did I forget that one? Maybe I only taught Ruby…"

When he playfully tapped his chin, Yang smiled and gestured towards the book on the table.

"Do you wish I hadn't though?" she asked.

"Absolutely not. You made an impact on those kids' lives, you know."

"Do you really think that?"

Smiling proudly, he leaned down and kissed her on the temple.

"Just look at your sister."

When he straightened and headed out of the room, Yang watched him walk past a bookshelf stuffed with trophies rather than books. Most of them were Ruby's from track - all-city, all-district, all-state, and the lame 'all-world' trophy Yang stuck together that Ruby refused to get rid of.

Who would've thought that the tiny kid with the monkey backpack and two left feet would grow up to be a star athlete at one of the most prestigious schools in Vale? Who would've thought that the little girl who was always an easy target for bullies would still be smiling - with no bullies in sight?

Ruby had grown up like Blake, in a way. She knew that she was 'weird' but accepted every bit of her weirdness. She'd actually taken the weird bits about herself and turned them into success. She wouldn't cry if a bully picked on her - she wouldn't even flinch. She would just keep smiling.

She was going to wear a squid backpack to school, for crying out loud. And would she get teased about it? Probably not. It was more likely that _everyone_ would start wearing cute animal backpacks instead.

Ruby Rose...from shrimp to trendsetter.

Hearing a stampede of elephants tumble down the staircase, Yang watched Ruby race into the kitchen seconds later - heading to the cupboard to pull down a glass for water.

"Hey, weren't you going to call Weiss?" Yang asked while Ruby filled up her glass.

"Already did! She only had a couple minutes. She's studying for some crazy test coming up."

"Ah…"

After draining half the glass in one continuous gulp, Ruby let out a contented sigh before grinning at Yang.

"Wanna watch a movie with us? You can pick!"

"Sure." Yang nodded and was about to stand up, but then she thought of something. "But I have a question for you."

Setting both hands on the back of a dining room chair, Ruby looked at her curiously. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering...what do you think would've happened if I hadn't stood up for you at school?"

As soon as the question was out in the open, Yang watched Ruby's brow furrow.

"Which time?"

"Any of them."

Ruby's brow furrowed even further.

"That would've sucked!" she answered succinctly, but the expression lasted only a second before she gave Yang a big smile. "But you wouldn't have done that because that's not who you are. We stand up for what's right, remember?"

Smiling at the answer - the motto the two of them had lived by since grade school - Yang nodded once.

"That's right. We do."

There weren't many things Yang was super proud of, but the person Ruby had grown up to be was one of them. After everything they'd been through, just look at her - self-assured, confident, and a wonderful person.

Sensing the mood, Ruby walked around the table and gave Yang a sideways hug.

"Whenever people thought I was weird, it didn't matter because I knew you had my back no matter what," Ruby whispered. "And I'll always have yours, ok?"

Feeling an abundance of appreciation spring into her chest, Yang smiled and stood up to give Ruby a real hug.

"Thanks, Ruby," she said before pulling away and nodding towards the table. "Where'd you get the rose, by the way?"

"Weiss gave it to me! Isn't it nice?" Reaching over, Ruby touched one of the petals with a dopey grin on her lips.

"Very nice," Yang replied, taking a second to enjoy Ruby's pure bliss before raising her voice so she could be heard from the living room. "And I hope you and Dad are ready to cower in your seats because boy do I have a movie for you!"

Ruby immediately groaned while Dad shouted, "No horror! Ruby, you have to say no horror!"

Turning to Yang, Ruby grinned and said, "Sorry, Dad! I forgot!"

With Ruby running ahead, Yang spared one last glance at the book laying on the table before following her sister at a much slower pace. When she made it to the living room, she watched Ruby jump onto the sofa next to their dad while she picked out her spot on his other side.

After she sat down with a soft sigh, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head. From his other side, Ruby already had the remote in hand and turned on the TV. It flickered to life on a deafeningly-loud car commercial - the shouting voices making Yang cringe as the volume shot straight through her still-tender head.

"Turn it down, honey," Dad whispered to Ruby, who obediently turned down the volume until it wasn't hitting Yang's brain like a mallet.

"Thanks," Yang said quietly, and her dad squeezed her shoulder while Ruby scrolled through the menu of movies.

"What's it called?"

Grinning when Ruby and Dad turned towards her, Yang waited a few seconds to build the suspense before answering the question.

"Super Zombie Slayers 6," she answered, her grin growing when the title made her dad groan.

"That sounds like lovely family viewing..."

"It's the _sixth_ one, Dad," Ruby pointed out. "That means it was good enough to get six movies!"

"Or horrible enough..." he muttered to himself. "You know, it's a shame that Yang gets to see this theatrical masterpiece out of only one eye."

"I can see just fine!" she whined while Ruby giggled. "The swelling's gone down. Kinda…"

Laughing when she pouted, he gently ruffled her hair.

The swelling had gone down enough that she could see fairly well out of both eyes, but apparently they were going to tease her about it for much longer than that.

"Oh! Yang, can I be you for Halloween?" Ruby suddenly asked, turning to Yang with excited eyes as the movie began to play.

"How are you going to 'be me?'" she asked suspiciously.

"Black eye and boxing gloves! It'll be awesome. Come on, pleaseeeee?"

Impressed with the idea, Yang smiled and nodded.

"That actually sounds pretty cool. How about I'll dress up as you too?"

Pumping her fist in excitement, Ruby jumped onto the sofa and leaned back into the cushions.

"Fake black eye, I hope," their dad added, wrapping his arms around both of them while they settled in to watch some super zombies get slayed. Within the first fifteen seconds, he flinched when a zombie jump-scared the living daylights out of them before being disintegrated by a rocket launcher.

"Awesome," Ruby muttered from the other side of the sofa. Chuckling at the subtle endorsement of her selection, Yang leaned into her dad's warm shoulder to watch the rest of the movie. Her mind couldn't focus too much on the story on the screen, however, as it drifted to their conversation in the kitchen instead.

It was hard to believe that she changed Ruby's life because she'd always known how amazing Ruby was. It was _other_ people who'd needed convincing - sometimes pretty forceful convincing.

Would Ruby be a different person if Yang hadn't been there all the time? Would Blake be a different person if Yang hadn't stood up for her that day? How could one moment define a person's life like that?

Well...that one moment had been a turning point in Yang's life too. It shaped the person she would become both in school and at home. It gave her the determination to excel in her boxing lessons because she wanted to be that much better at sticking up for those who might need her.

Maybe Yang changed Blake's life without realizing it, but Blake had done the same thing in return.


	18. Chapter 18

The sun was shining brightly through Yang's window by the time she woke up the next morning, but it had lost some of the blinding painfulness of yesterday. When she opened her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised that they both fully opened - at least...they both _mostly_ opened. Her bruised eye was still swollen, but it no longer felt like she had a golf ball taped to her eyelid.

Covering her mouth when a yawn slipped out, she listened to the birds chirping outside and savored her warm covers before leaving them behind. She felt pretty darn good this morning! Sure, there was a lingering ache behind her eye and a subtle headache, but both of those were quickly pushed aside in favor of throwing off the covers and hopping out of bed.

Stretching her hands above her head and twisting to the side until her back gave an audible crack, she repeated the process on the other side before giving her bed one last glance. She _could_ put the covers back in place, or she _could_ be lazy and leave them like they were - a crumpled mess. It was the weekend, after all. Two glorious days without classes or responsibilities or…

On cue, her mind drifted to Blake - and the fact that they wouldn't see each other for two more days. Which meant they wouldn't get to talk. Which meant they wouldn't get to continue that kiss…

It was the weekend, and she was bummed that it was the weekend. Apparently, she'd taken a trip to bizarro world…

Sighing at the realization, she trudged into the bathroom to get ready for the day and check her eye. The swelling had receded but left a nice, dark-purple bruise behind. It had lost its shine, so could no longer be called a 'shiner,' but it still qualified as a black eye. Or at least...a purple eye. Which matched her purple eyes! Light purple within dark purple - that was pretty cool.

Humming to herself, she brushed her teeth, gently washed her face, and brushed her hair before changing into the most comfortable clothes she could find - the coziest black sweatpants and a yellow tee. Satisfied with the reflection in the mirror, she smiled and nodded once before grabbing her phone and heading downstairs.

And when she walked into the kitchen, who did she find sitting at the table?

"Oh, hey Weiss."

Walking behind Weiss' seat to the cupboards on the other side of the kitchen, Yang pulled out a glass, filled it with water from the tap, and took a long drink. Setting down her pencil and marking her place with one finger, Weiss looked up from the notebook she'd been writing in and _almost_ smiled.

"Good morning, Yang. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Still a bit of a headache, but nothing unmanageable." After draining her glass and then refilling it, Yang walked over and sat across from Weiss. From the notebook and textbook laying side-by-side, Weiss was working on homework but had stopped to acknowledge Yang's existence. That was actually kind of sweet, right?

"Waiting for Ruby?" Yang asked while swirling the water in her glass, trying not to let it splash over the edges.

"Yes. She said she'll be ready in a few minutes."

Nodding at the answer, Yang took a quick sip of water and looked around the kitchen.

"You know where Dad went?"

"He went to the store but said he'd be back within the hour."

Something about that reply made Yang smile. Maybe because Weiss answered the question without specifying _whose_ dad they were referring to. Or maybe because she answered without an ounce of sarcasm in her voice, which was weird in and of itself.

Of course, Yang's smile made Weiss immediately suspicious. But when Yang lifted her glass off the table and took another drink, Weiss returned her attention to her homework.

Was Blake working on homework right now too? Did all the smart kids do their homework first thing on Saturday morning? Because Yang usually waited until the last minute and then rushed through it on Sunday night or Monday morning during homeroom. Maybe that's why she wasn't one of the smart kids…

Blake was probably adorable when she studied...wearing a serious and contemplative expression while staring at her textbooks. That was definitely an image Yang wouldn't mind seeing.

"You think Blake studies as much as you?" she asked, swirling her water again while lost in thought.

"I'd imagine so," Weiss answered calmly, her eyes never leaving her textbook while flipping the page. "We have a lot of work to do already."

"All those smart people classes."

"Yes, and Blake chose some rather difficult subjects for the reports we were assigned. I'm curious to see how those turn out."

Tilting her head in surprise, Yang momentarily struggled to absorb how non-confrontational that statement sounded.

"I thought she was your sworn enemy."

"It's actually nice to have an intelligent friend to speak with about intellectual matters," Weiss replied smoothly. "There are certain subjects that Ruby would rather not talk about, and I don't want to bore her with any more school topics than need be. But Blake is more than willing to discuss schoolwork."

Still absorbed in her work, Weiss didn't notice the look of dumbfounded shock on Yang's face. Because apparently while she was knocked out, someone stole the original Weiss Schnee and replaced her with this new and improved model. The biting, sarcastic comments were nowhere to be found - instead, she was calm and _almost_ …

No, Yang couldn't use the word 'friendly' to describe Weiss. Right? Because if Weiss was suddenly friendly, then Yang needed to figure out if she'd accidentally teleported to another universe where everything was the same but completely opposite.

After Weiss jotted down a few more notes, Yang decided she had to say something.

"You realize we've been talking for like five minutes and you haven't insulted me?" she asked, grinning when Weiss immediately glowered across the table at her.

"I was taught to be polite to invalids."

"I _might_ have a concussion. That doesn't make me an invalid!"

"I wasn't talking about the concussion," Weiss shot back without pause, her agitation subsiding when Yang laughed at the insult.

That felt better. Much more normal.

"Weiss! I'll be ready in five minutes!"

The two of them turned towards the voice before hearing footsteps race across the upstairs hallway and back into Ruby's room. Looking away from the sound first, Yang caught the smile tugging at Weiss' mouth. Grinning at the subtle display of affection, she watched Weiss give away her feelings without even realizing it.

The fact that Weiss was fine waiting for Ruby - when she was obviously late - was cute. The fact that Weiss had apparently expected Ruby to be late so brought homework to work on was _extra_ cute.

"Whatcha workin' on anyway?" Leaning across the table, Yang tried to read the title of whatever worksheet Weiss had laying inside her notebook.

"A physics assignment," Weiss answered. "I'd explain it to you, but I don't want to overload your brain this early in the morning."

"I appreciate that!" Sitting back in her seat with an amused laugh, Yang suddenly had a random thought. "Hey, you're working on a project with Blake, right?"

"Yes, for the same class."

"Do you work on it after school?"

"We got together once to plan what we're going to do," Weiss answered, her attention drawn away from her assignment once again. "But not since then."

"Does that mean you know where she lives?"

The second Yang asked the question, Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Maybe…" she replied cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Because…"

Yang trailed off while she tried to come up with an answer. The truth was that she wanted to see Blake again, but something told her Weiss wouldn't be very understanding of that explanation.

"Because I have a book I need to return to her."

"You do?"

"Yeah! This one -" Reaching over, Yang grabbed the paperback she'd left out on the kitchen table last night. Holding it up for Weiss to read the title, Yang smiled while flipping the cover open for herself to read, suffering a short burst of butterflies when she did so.

"Didn't we read that several years ago?"

"Yeah, but...it's one of her favorites."

Running her fingers across the cover and smiling, Yang looked up and found Weiss watching her closely. It _seemed_ like Weiss believed her - and why wouldn't she? It was mostly true!

After tapping her fingers in thought, Weiss pulled out her phone and copied something down onto a piece of paper. Tearing it out of her notebook, she handed it across the table to Yang.

An address was written in the middle of the paper - and suddenly Yang felt a burst of nerves and excitement. This was where Blake lived. This was where Blake might be at this very moment. If Yang went over there, they could see each other and talk, or -

"If she's upset that you're there, don't tell her I gave you that," Weiss said, interrupting Yang's thoughts and making her chuckle.

"Who am I supposed to say gave it to me then?"

"I don't know. Pretend like you've been stalking her or something. Shouldn't be too hard to convince her of that."

When Weiss smirked at her, Yang rolled her eyes and looked at the slip of paper again, trying to decide what to do with this new information. The address wasn't far away - a decent walk on a nice day - so theoretically she could walk over and say 'hello.' But could she just show up out of the blue on the weekend?

 _Technically,_ Blake showed up unannounced yesterday, so maybe it wasn't completely uncalled for. If anything, Blake's out-of-the-blue visit made Yang's out-of-the-blue visit a little more _in_ the blue. But she wasn't familiar enough with social etiquette to know for sure, and no way was she running that question by Weiss.

Basically...she wanted to see Blake, and this was the only way to do so without waiting for the entire weekend to end. She wasn't good at waiting. And if she had the opportunity to see Blake now, she was going to take it.

Stowing the small but valuable piece of paper in her pocket, Yang finally made her decision and stood up. Walking around the table, she gave Weiss a quick, sideways hug that made her stiffen like she was being held by icicles.

"Thanks, Weiss!" Yang said, giving the girl an extra squeeze for good measure before letting go. "Sometimes you're the best!"

"Such a lukewarm compliment," Weiss huffed while Yang headed into the entryway to put on the first pair of shoes she laid her hands. Once that was done, she headed back to the kitchen and gave Weiss a knowing grin.

"I know you get the scalding hot ones from Ruby. Don't want to burn you, ya know?"

When Weiss pointedly avoided eye contact, Yang smiled and grabbed Blake's book off the table. Before leaving, however, she paused and turned back to Weiss.

"She loved the rose, by the way."

Satisfied with Weiss' sudden blush and lack of response, Yang said, "See you later!" before heading out the front door and racing down the sidewalk. Pulling out the slip of paper with Blake's address written on it, Yang reread it before turning left and hurrying away from her home. While keeping a brisk pace that _surely_ wasn't related to excitement and nerves, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number she'd memorized years ago.

"Pick up, pick up…" she muttered under her breath while the phone rang and rang again. On the third ring, the call clicked over to voicemail.

"Pyrrha," she said as soon as the message tone rang out. "I'm going over to Blake's right now, and I'm going to ask her out. You have ten minutes to call and convince me out of it."

Ending the call, she stuck her phone in her pocket and crossed the next street before making a right turn. No sooner had she done that did her phone start ringing.

Pulling it out and glimpsing Pyrrha's name, she quickly answered.

"You're going to tell me that I'm stupid, right?" she said instead of 'hello.' "That I've only known her for a few days, and there's no way I can like her this much?"

"No…" Pyrrha replied calmly. "I was actually going to say that you should do it."

"What?"

"Yes, ask her! It's obvious that you like her, and she seems to adore you."

"Really?"

Yang's hopeful disbelief made Pyrrha laugh.

" _Yes_ , Yang. When you got hurt on Thursday, she was really upset. I haven't seen that much emotion out of her all year. Hold on -"

For a few seconds, Yang listened to the distant, muffled sound of Pyrrha speaking to someone on the other end of the line.

"Sorry -" Pyrrha said after a few seconds passed.

"Who's that?" Yang asked curiously.

"Oh. It's Jaune. He says 'hello.'"

The revelation made Yang stop walking.

"You're on a date?" she asked, not believing for a second how nonchalant Pyrrha attempted to sound.

"Well, I don't know if you would call it that...but maybe."

"Pyrrha!" she exclaimed, while a huge smile lit her lips. "How could you not tell me? No, that doesn't matter - you have to tell me _everything_ when you get home!"

"Yang -"

"No, you have to," she insisted, practically _feeling_ Pyrrha's blush through the phone. "Especially since you didn't even tell me you asked him out!"

"Well, you were a little busy getting knocked out and missing school -"

"Excuses!" she interrupted with a grin. "How are we talking right now, Pyrrha? What's that magical device in your hand? Might it be a phone? A phone that allows you to talk to me even when I'm not around?"

"Ok!" Pyrrha finally relented with a light laugh. "I'll call you later, but first you should take some of your own advice and be honest about your feelings."

Yang sighed in pretend annoyance, but she was unable to quit smiling right now - probably ever.

"I'm so happy for you, Pyrrha! This is the best news ever."

"Oh stop. You're going to embarrass me."

"You're already embarrassed, but ok. I'll talk to you later and let you know how it goes."

"Same to you. Good luck!"

Hanging up after a quick "thanks," Yang put her phone away and doubled her pace towards her destination - still smiling.

Pyrrha and Jaune! It had only been _years_ of listening to Pyrrha pine over that boy, and _finally_ it happened. They were on an official date. God knows how long it would take them to move any further than that, but that was an issue for another day. Because today Pyrrha was out on a date - and Yang was going to try to secure another date of her own.

It wasn't a big deal - she just needed to see Blake and admit all of the feelings rolling around in her head. And then ask if maybe Blake would go out with her again, on a date. And maybe they could finish that kiss…

Replaying the memory over and over again in her head, Yang practically flew towards her destination. However, when she neared the address written on the paper now crushed in her hand, her strides abruptly turned from long and purposeful to small and uncertain.

What if the kiss didn't mean what she thought it did? Maybe that was Blake saying 'thank you' for what happened in elementary school - and nothing else. Maybe it wasn't any indication of her feelings but was only Yang's wishful thinking.

The potential for embarrassment - or worse, rejection - was high and only grew higher when she turned onto the correct street and read the house numbers adorning the mailboxes spaced along the road.

When she was a few houses away, she realized that if Weiss was clever - which she undoubtedly was - she would give Yang the wrong address just to mess with her. But Weiss had been in a pretty good mood this morning, so that probably hadn't happened...this time. At least, Yang _hoped_ that hadn't happened. Otherwise, she'd be knocking on random doors for the rest of the day...

Looking at the numbers Weiss had written before double and triple checking the digits listed on the mailbox in front of her, Yang swallowed and stuck the paper in her pocket before wiping her suddenly-sweaty palm on her leg.

Was it just her, or did the sidewalk feel an awful lot like molasses in this part of town? Something about it made her feet drag in slow, laborious steps while heading up the walkway to the quaint, two-story home in the middle of the block. It looked like a friendly enough place, but her nerves rampantly expanded while she crept towards the front door with the old book clutched in her hand.

This was it. She was going to ask Blake out - technically again, but this time she would be much more upfront about it.

Or she was going to turn around and run home.

No, she wouldn't do that. She'd made it all the way here, and she'd already told Pyrrha her plan. If she wimped out, she'd never hear the end of it. Plus...she really, _really_ wanted to see Blake again. It felt like they still had so much to talk about...

Taking a deep breath, Yang rang the doorbell with a quick jab of one finger before standing on the front step and waiting. After a few seconds of silence, a set of footsteps approached the front door. But whose footsteps were they? Would Blake answer? Or -

Yang's eyes widened when the door swung open to reveal a woman who could only be Blake's mother. She was basically a carbon copy of Blake, only older and with shorter hair. But still gorgeous. Like, wow. If this was how Blake would grow up, the world was in for some trouble. More specifically, Yang was in for some trouble.

"Hi," Yang said quickly, making sure to use her best 'good with parents' smile and praying her black eye wouldn't be too damaging of a first impression. "I was wondering if Blake is around? We go to school together, and I wanted to return this book." She held up the book as proof, which seemed to make the woman relax immeasurably.

"Yes, of course. Come in." When Blake's mom moved out of the way and gestured Yang through the door, she walked inside and immediately scoped the place out. This was where Blake _lived_. This was where she spent her time when not at school.

It was well taken care of and, compared to Yang's home, neat and orderly. To the right, she found a living room with a clean, white sofa, several comfy-looking white chairs, and several short bookcases. To the left, there was a dining table before a large open doorway that led into a kitchen.

"Blake?" the woman called up the staircase in front of them. "Sweetie, you have a visitor."

"Coming!"

The sound of Blake's voice made Yang's palms sweat even more. Trying to be subtle, she lowered her free hand and wiped it on the leg of her sweats while trying not to look _too_ nervous.

"Would you like something to drink?" Blake's mom asked while they waited.

When she knew Blake would appear at any moment, Yang found it hard to tear her eyes away from the stairs. But she managed a glance away to say "Uh, no, I'm fine, thank you" before throwing in another winning smile. With a soft "mmk" of acceptance, Blake's mom walked away and left Yang waiting at the bottom of the stairs alone.

She wasn't alone for long though, because Blake appeared on the landing of the second story just a few seconds later.

Blake immediately stopped when their eyes met, and then she gave Yang a quizzical smile while slowly walking down the stairs - all while Yang's mouth quickly dried out.

Maybe she should have asked for that drink, after all…

Had Blake always been this pretty? Was she prettier today? Maybe it was seeing her outside of school, away from the bland hallways and classrooms. Or maybe it was just today. Something about today made Yang's heart pound in her chest while Blake approached. The memories from yesterday shot to the forefront of her mind and replayed the kisses they'd shared over and over again.

Finding her mouth was now exceptionally dry, Yang licked her lips once before speaking.

"Hey," she said when Blake reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in front of her.

"Hi," Blake replied, her eyes twinkling in delight. "Sorry, I didn't prepare quite the reveal like you did yesterday."

"Ah, maybe next time," Yang answered instinctively before blushing when she realized what that meant. "I, uh, I mean...sorry to bother you on the weekend."

"It's ok. I was just working on homework."

"Ah. Physics?" Yang guessed.

"Yes," Blake replied, tilting her head in confusion. "How did you know?"

"Oh, I saw Weiss this morning, and she mentioned something about it."

While Yang explained, Blake nodded in understanding.

"That explains how you knew where I lived."

"Uh…I mean, I wouldn't say -" When Blake smiled at the attempt to dodge around the truth, Yang chuckled and shook her head. "I...well, I wanted to bring this back to you," she finally stammered, holding the book out to Blake.

After looking down at it for a second, realization dawned on Blake's face. Giving Yang a glance filled with cheerful disbelief, Blake took the book from Yang's hands and ran her fingertips across the cover. Briefly flipping it open to prove that it was, in fact, the same book, she closed it and looked at Yang with that same expression of disbelief.

"You kept it?" Blake asked, her surprise evident in every bit of her expression.

"Of course. That day was important to me too, you know."

Blake opened her mouth but said nothing before shaking her head and smiling. Reading the title of the book while tracing one finger across the letters, she took a breath like she was going to say something, but then her eyes darted off to the side. When Yang's gaze followed, she found Blake's mom standing right inside the doorway to the kitchen, appearing busy while looking in a cupboard but clearly intent upon what they were saying.

When the two of them turned away, Blake gave Yang a smile that said 'can you believe she thinks we don't notice her?' before setting one foot on the staircase.

"Why don't you come upstairs?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Nervously following Blake up the staircase, Yang made sure to keep her eyes trained on the step directly in front of her in order to avoid accidentally staring at Blake's butt. Not that she didn't _want_ to, but she didn't want to be caught looking. Knowing her luck, she'd definitely get caught.

Reaching the second story, Blake walked through the first door on the right with Yang trailing two steps behind. Once inside the bedroom, she looked around to get a good feeling for her new surroundings.

Blake's room was...filled with as many books as she would have imagined. Several bookshelves lined the walls, stacked with books that were neatly arranged in some type of order. Beside the bookshelves, a desk stood in front of the window with a textbook and several notebooks lying open on top.

"So this is where the magic happens," Yang joked with a nervous chuckle, glancing at Blake's neatly-made bed before blushing and swearing to never look back in case Blake caught her. But Blake was too busy studying the book Yang brought over - opening the front cover and reading the inscription inside before closing it again with a smile.

"If you consider homework and reading to be magic, then yes. A _lot_ of magic happens here."

Yang laughed at the joke but quieted when she noticed the way Blake's eyes sparkled at her right now, filled with appreciation she couldn't claim to deserve.

"I can't believe you kept this," Blake finally said, waving the book through the air.

"Of course I did - it was a gift. I don't normally get rid of gifts." Thinking about the truth in that statement, Yang shook her head to herself. "Unless they're from Neptune."

"But you didn't even know who I was at the time."

"I didn't," Yang answered honestly, stepping forward so they were closer together. "I mean...I didn't know you as well as I should have."

When Blake tilted her head in a way that asked Yang to continue, she decided that now was as good a time as any to explain the jumble of thoughts and emotions she'd wrestled with for the past few days.

"I've always had friends at school," she began with a modest smile. "People just kinda...like me, for whatever reason. I liked having friends, and I liked being popular. My first few years of school were a breeze."

"I know," Blake said with a smile and nod. "I was there, remember?"

"Right." Shaking her head at the craziness of that statement, Yang ran one hand through her hair before continuing. "Things changed when Ruby got to school. People started picking on her almost immediately. I don't know why she was such an easy target...she was a little smaller than everyone else and more hyper, but...whatever it was, they got to her right away."

It wasn't until Blake hesitantly reached out and held one of Yang's hands that she realized she was frowning - her brow deeply furrowed while remembering Ruby's early days of school. It was a simple gesture but lifted Yang's heart enough for her to finish her side of the story.

"I figured out how to get them to back off - fight them. Give them a good hit, or a good scare, and they left her alone. For Ruby, I did it because she's my little sister. But you…" Looking up from their joined hands, Yang caught Blake's eyes and held them like a lifeline while her emotions built in her chest.

"Blake, you were the first person besides Ruby that I ever stood up for," she admitted. "It wasn't until that day that I realized Ruby wasn't the only person being picked on. Other people needed someone to stick up for them. To _see_ them…"

Reaching out with her free hand, Yang tapped the cover of the book and gave Blake an apologetic smile.

"You're the one who made me want to stand up for everyone. Because I should have noticed sooner what they were saying to you. I should have said something sooner. I'm sorry it took me so long to help..."

"Oh Yang…"

When Yang turned her gaze towards the ground, one soft hand reached up and brushed her cheek.

"We were just kids," Blake assured her softly, gently tilting Yang's chin up so they made eye contact once more. "What matters is that you _did_ stick up for me. And that stayed with me to this day."

Blake's smile warmed every hidden corner of Yang's heart, drawing out a smile of her own that didn't fade even when Blake shyly turned away.

"Will you forgive me..." Blake directed towards the floor before finding Yang's gaze again. "For not telling you right away?"

"Depends. Will you forgive me for being a complete idiot and not remembering who you were, even though you gave me about a billion hints?"

When Blake laughed and nodded in acceptance of their deal, Yang felt her inner sun completely restored. It was so easy to be vulnerable around Blake. And honest - and open. They'd finally gotten their shared past out in the open, so maybe it was time she found the courage to discuss their present.

"I, uh, I have a question I wanted to ask..." she began, her nerves doubling when Blake stood in front of her and waited expectantly - those intelligent amber eyes trained directly upon her. Her palms instantly sweating, she swallowed thickly and tried to lower the volume of her heart beating in her ears.

If any time felt right to ask this question, it was now - when they were putting their feelings out in the open, once and for all.

"Do you like me?" she asked in a single breath, watching a flicker of surprise register in Blake's expression before rushing forward. "And not in a 'she saved me from bullies' type of way, but in a more, you know...um…in a romantic way?"

With the question finally asked, Yang searched for anything that might clue her in to Blake's answer. She didn't need to do much searching, however, because - while never losing her gaze - Blake nodded and said, "I do."

Temporarily confused, Yang blinked once before fully processing what was just said.

"You...really?"

Nodding again, Blake took one step closer - moving so close that their toes nearly touched. Taking a breath, she briefly looked uncertain about what she wanted to say next but eventually smiled.

"I like you. And I like you more every day," she admitted softly. "But...do you like me?"

Stunned by the positive response, Yang opened her mouth but couldn't find any words to say. She'd imagined it, wished for it, and hoped for it, and now it was true. Blake _liked_ her. This wonderful, amazing, smart and beautiful girl…

"You had me at 'can you flirt like a prince.'"

When Blake's expression lit up with happiness, Yang stepped closer and rested her hand near Blake's elbow, feeling a thrill of excitement pass through her fingertips the moment they touched. The way Blake was looking at her right now sent tingles of anticipation up and down her spine...and there was no way she'd let this moment slip away.

"I...think Ruby interrupted us yesterday," she whispered, her cheeks heating up from the memory. And for once, Blake's cheeks darkened to match.

After amber eyes flitted quickly back and forth, searching Yang's for an answer to an unspoken question, Blake smiled.

"And how does that make you feel, my liege?"

While Blake's eyes danced at the joke, Yang leaned forward and kissed her. Because what else could she do when this amazing girl continued to get the best of her?

And, unlike yesterday, she wasn't caught off guard by the kiss. She was very much prepared but still felt her heart jolt with happiness when Blake returned the kiss in earnest - their lips moving together in perfect harmony.

Feeling a delicate hand twisting soft curls around her ear, Yang exhaled in content while pulling Blake closer, close enough that there was no extra space existing between them. With their bodies pressed together, she wove one hand through Blake's hair and did her best to convey through her lips just how much she loved...spending time together.

"Blake?"

Startled by the voice, they broke apart - and Blake immediately sighed when two soft knocks landed on the bedroom door.

"Yeah?" she asked, stepping backward and leaning casually against her desk chair while Yang stood awkwardly in front of her. Wiping a hand across her furiously blushing cheeks and mouth, Yang cleared her throat as the door cracked open and Blake's mom poked her head inside.

"Sorry to bother you," the woman said, although it didn't appear that she was actually that sorry. "I was just wondering if your friend wanted to stay for breakfast."

Somehow not looking at all disheveled or embarrassed at what just happened, Blake gave Yang an inquisitive look.

"Would you like to stay for breakfast?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Yang answered, nervously running a hand through her hair before shrugging. "I mean, I can always eat."

"Great! Then I'll whip something up for you two."

While this seemed like the moment when Blake's mom would leave, she lingered until Blake sighed again and spoke up.

"Mom, this is Yang - we're in the same homeroom. Yang, this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you, Yang," Mrs. Belladonna said with a pleased smile, extending a hand that Yang hastily shook.

"You too, Mrs. Belladonna," she replied, forcing another 'extra good with parents smile' while Blake's mom laughed.

"Oh, please call me Kali. 'Mrs. Belladonna' sounds so formal."

"Uh, ok, Kali." The name made Yang feel even more awkward, but she pushed that feeling aside in order to attempt a normal conversation. "You, uh, have a lovely house. And an even lovelier daughter."

Hearing how that sounded, Yang felt her cheeks grow warmer in embarrassment. And when Kali's eyes narrowed in thought, she was positive she'd have to explain her choice in words. 'Lovely daughter? What do you mean?'

Hopefully, Blake's mom couldn't read minds, because all Yang could think about right now was how she and Blake were kind of making out just a few seconds ago.

"You look familiar…" was all she said instead, clearly trying to place Yang in her memories.

"She should," Blake added, walking over to Yang's side and nudging her arm. "She's the one who beat up those boys who were picking on me in fourth grade."

When Kali's eyes widened in recognition, Yang chuckled nervously.

"I mean, I wouldn't say 'beat up,'" she mumbled, although her current black eye probably wasn't helping her case. Fortunately, Blake's mom gave her a warm smile - apparently thrilled to learn that was Yang's past.

"Well you grew up to be a beauty, didn't you?"

"Mom!" Blake exclaimed in disbelief.

"What? Moms are allowed to say things like that," Kali replied before giving Yang another smile. "You go to Vale High then?"

"Yup! My sister and I both go there."

"Ohhhh…" Kali shot a look at her daughter - who was suddenly too busy staring at her hands to make eye contact - before turning back to Yang with a sly grin nearly identical to the ones she'd been receiving for the past few days in homeroom. "Well _that_ makes a lot more sense."

Staring at Blake's sudden burst of embarrassment, Yang couldn't help smiling. Because _that_ was cute.

"But I'm glad to see you're doing well," Blake's mom continued regardless of their silence. "Although...maybe only _moderately_ well…"

When she nodded towards Yang's eye, Yang nearly cringed at how bad of a first impression she was making.

"Oh yeah," she replied, trying to explain it in a way that would save a little face. "But this was...uh...well, I kinda signed up for it. I'm on the boxing team, so it happens sometimes..."

" _You're_ the one who got punched?" After glancing at Blake, who still refused eye contact, Kali leaned closer to Yang and held up one hand to loudly whisper, "I've never seen her so mad."

"Mommm," Blake whined, this time blushing brilliant red while her mom laughed and finally walked towards the door, leaving Yang to stare at Blake's flushed cheeks in surprise. She _had_ to learn how Blake's mom embarrassed her so easily.

"It's lovely seeing you again, Yang. I'll leave you two alone."

This time it was Yang's turn to blush like mad when she caught the wink sent Blake's way.

"I'll call when breakfast is ready," Kali added before disappearing into the hall.

"Thanks, Mom," Blake mumbled before walking to the door and closing it. After listening for a few seconds, she quietly spun the lock and turned around.

"So…" Yang began, at a loss for words over what just happened.

"So that's my mom…" Blake said before shaking her head. "Apparently, she talks a little too much..."

The response made Yang laugh.

Even though it was embarrassing as heck, that had been surprisingly enjoyable. And learning that Blake was angry on Yang's behalf was rather cute.

"Don't worry. My dad's gonna try to embarrass me too."

As soon as Yang said the words, Blake's eyes met hers, and that slow grin appeared once again.

"Are you saying you want me to meet your dad?"

"Yeah, of course! I mean, if you want to."

Smiling, Blake left the door behind and walked back to Yang - only stopping when she was close enough to set one of her hands on Yang's hip.

"And how would you introduce me?" Blake asked with mischievous eyes, setting her second hand on Yang's other hip in the most tantalizing way imaginable. "'That girl I saved in elementary school?'"

"That depends…" With Blake's fingertips gripping her hips and pulling her closer, Yang found it increasingly difficult to keep track of what she wanted to say.

"Depends on what?"

Rolling onto the balls of her feet, Blake wore a smirk that said she knew exactly what she was doing to Yang right now. And that was completely ok.

"Well I, uh, I know we didn't get to go on our date," Yang stammered while staring into amber eyes. "But maybe...maybe I could still call you my girlfriend?"

Laughing in delight, Blake leaned forward and kissed Yang again...quickly wrapping both arms around her neck and deepening the kiss.

She didn't like to make assumptions...but she was taking that as a 'yes.'

Hearing a bubble of laughter slip past Blake's lips, Yang couldn't help but join in - catching the happiness in Blake's eyes before they kissed again, both of them amazed at how this had turned out.

Even though one moment in their pasts had linked them together, Yang couldn't take credit for the person Blake became. She'd already been brilliant, as seen from her choice of advanced reading material. And it was her own willpower that led her to become so confident in herself. So no, Yang couldn't take credit for that, no matter how much Blake wanted to give it to her.

Maybe Blake latched onto that moment for inspiration, but it was all her the rest of the way. She'd been knocked down. She stood back up. She found a way to be herself without bending to what everyone else wanted her to be. Maybe Yang offered a hand, but the decision to take it was Blake's - and Blake's alone.

But damn was Yang glad she punched that boy in the nose.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey everyone! Thank you for reading this story, and for reviewing, favoriting, following, etc. I appreciate all of the support you've shown and the successful completion of another story. I have more in the works, so stay tuned!**

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"Rubyyyyyyy," Yang whined up the stairs while waiting for her little sister to appear. "Come onnnn!"

"Coming, coming!" Ruby yelled from her room, _still_ not ready to go.

Sighing, Yang crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot on the floor. Her backpack was already slung around her shoulders, her shoes were on her feet, and her breakfast was in one hand. Now all she needed was for her slowpoke of a sister to get downstairs so they could leave.

Was this what Ruby dealt with for the past few years? Because it actually kind of sucked.

"Ready!"

The word was shouted in unison with Ruby's appearance and rapid near-tumble down to the entryway. Grabbing the first pair of sneakers her hands landed on, she slipped them on without tying the laces and gave Yang a thumbs up.

"Tie your shoes," Yang instructed her before shouting "Dad! We're leaving!" into the house.

"Hold on!"

Groaning at the never-ending delays, she obediently waited for him to race out of the kitchen and set his cup of coffee on the nearest flat surface.

"You guys are so slowwww," she whined, but the complaint only succeeded in making them laugh at the irony.

"Give me a hug," Dad ordered with a big smile. Ruby flew into his arms for a giant, leaping hug before Yang gave him a more mellow one and accepted the obligatory kiss on the top of her head.

"Say 'hi' to Blake for me," he added before giving her a light shove towards the door. "When is she coming over again? I enjoyed meeting well-behaved, easily-flustered Yang."

Rolling her eyes while Ruby giggled, Yang pushed her sister outside and waved behind her.

"I'll invite her! See ya, Dad!"

The door closed on his chuckle while the two of them hopped off the porch and started their quick walk to school. After shifting her backpack to a more comfortable position, Yang sighed in relief now that they were making progress.

" _Is_ Blake coming over again?" Ruby asked, tiptoeing along the edge of the curb until Yang pulled her away from the road.

"I hope so. I'll ask her today."

As if Yang needed another reason to spend more time with Blake…

"Cool! I really like that game she taught us! The one where you slap people's hands when they get the card wrong - that was fun." Glancing over and catching the happy grin on Ruby's lips, Yang chuckled and bumped her sister's shoulder.

"You just liked trying to slap my hand as hard as you could."

"You bet! Kinda paid for that though…" When Ruby looked at one palm in sorrow, Yang laughed again and ruffled her short hair.

"Next time we'll put a cushion on the table or something."

"That's a good idea," Ruby muttered, swinging her arms while thinking about the game the four of them had played together.

It had taken all of three seconds for Blake to win over Yang's dad and Ruby. All she had to do was reduce Yang to sputters with a well-placed compliment before suggesting they play a card game. Ruby loved the game. Dad loved the almost constant blush on Yang's cheeks - something he was still pointing out to this day. And Yang loved having three of her favorite people in the same room together, laughing and having fun while not-so-subtly trying to cause each other harm with the palms of their hands.

"So would I consider Blake my sister now?"

"Ruby!" Yang yelped at the unexpected question.

"What?" Ruby asked, innocently raising her hands. "I've always wanted more sisters!"

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?"

"No, I'm saying you're _so_ good that I want another one of you!"

Narrowing her eyes, Yang tried to see through Ruby's cheerful grin but eventually gave up and smiled.

"That was a good one," she admitted, looking both ways before they cut across a street. "When did you become so quick?"

"Pretty sure when I got taller, I got all-around faster!" Ruby joked, grinning in delight when Yang chuckled.

Crossing the school parking lot, which was partially-filled, Yang immediately searched for the one person she couldn't wait to see, hoping that she'd be waiting by the front door just like she had the past few days.

"There she is," Yang said, her heart doing a silly stutter step while she nodded in Blake's direction.

Standing at the top of the front steps, just outside the doors, was Blake. She'd already spotted them, of course, and watched them approach - the small smile she wore growing when they drew close enough. It might be a little overzealous to run, but Yang definitely walked faster and jogged up the steps to greet her.

"Hey Blake!" Ruby called out first, rushing up the stairs and coming to a nearly-uncontrolled stop in front of her. "Good morning! We were just talking about you!"

"Good morning, Ruby." Barely concealing her amusement at Ruby's enthusiastic greeting, Blake looked at Yang with a smile that reached her eyes. "Good morning, Yang."

"Good morning," Yang replied with a smile that matched her current mood - extra happy. The start of school was now one of her favorite times of the day, just because of this moment.

"I'm glad to see your eye is finally back to normal." While Blake made the statement, she raised one hand and lightly grazed Yang's fully-healed temple with her fingertips. It was a casual gesture, but the intimacy lit Yang's cheeks like Christmas - especially when Blake let her hand linger before tucking a strand of hair behind Yang's ear and finally pulling away.

"Thank god. Now I can wink without looking like a 'raccoon blinking.'" Shooting a glare at Ruby - who threw on the most apologetic puppy dog eyes imaginable - Yang turned back to Blake with a smile. "You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

"I actually just got here - you have great timing."

"Then can I walk you to class?"

It might seem like a foregone conclusion that they would walk into school together, but Yang liked to ask anyway. Maybe because she really liked that Blake always said 'yes.'

And when Blake nodded, Yang extended one arm that Blake looped hers through - with Ruby grinning like a fool at the both of them all the while.

"You guys are so cute!" she remarked before hopping through the doors in front of them. "Are you gonna kiss now?"

"Ruby!" Yang yelled. She tried to grab ahold of her sister, but Ruby danced out of the way with a giggle - all those tentacles on her backpack flapping around like crazy.

"I'm gonna find Weiss!" she exclaimed with a big grin. "See you guys later!"

"Ha…" Yang exhaled in embarrassment while Ruby scampered off to the library. "You know, Ruby and I aren't actually related."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just disowned her."

Laughing at the joke, Blake leaned into Yang's shoulder, warming her side and sending tendrils of excitement racing through her veins. They hadn't been apart for that long, but Yang had missed this - spending time in each other's company. These were the experiences texts and phone calls really couldn't replace.

"My dad says 'hi,'" she remembered as they meandered arm-in-arm through the predominantly-empty halls towards homeroom. "He wants you to come over again."

"He's very sweet," Blake replied, sending Yang a smile. "I'd love to come over, but my mom wanted me to invite you to dinner tonight."

"Again?" Yang asked in surprise. Glancing to the side, she found that Blake looked more than a little amused by the situation they'd unexpectedly found themselves in.

"Yes, again. I swear...they must like you more than me."

Laughing at the playfully serious expression Blake was wearing, Yang gently squeezed her arm and said, "Well, obviously my answer is 'yes.' I've yet to master the art of getting you to blush so much."

Remembering the many, _many_ blushes she'd been blessed with witnessing at their last dinner, Yang chuckled while Blake shook her head in disbelief.

"I had no idea that was one of my mom's superpowers...but apparently she's quite adept at it."

"It's _amazing_. If I could learn one thing from your mom, that'd be it. Well, that or how to make her baked tuna because _that_ was freaking incredible."

"If you learn how to make her baked tuna, you're never getting rid of me."

"Then...I guess that's what I need to do," Yang replied while giving Blake a sideways glance. Honestly, she wasn't much of a cook, but she was more than willing to learn. And if it meant that Blake would stick to her like glue, then the effort would be completely worth it.

"How 'bout this -" she suggested while they headed up the staircase to the second floor. "You have dinner with my dad, and I'll have dinner with your mom."

"No way," Blake said, emphatically shaking her head at the idea. "I'm not leaving you with my mom unsupervised. I'm pretty sure she's just _waiting_ for an opportunity to pull out the naked baby photos."

"There are naked baby photos?"

Staring down Yang's suddenly wishful thinking, Blake suppressed a smile.

"No," she answered deadpan. The obvious lie made Yang laugh and pull her a little closer.

"Hmm...you know, that answer would be a lot more convincing if it were true," Yang teased. "But naked baby photos are the bane of every high schooler's existence."

"Which means that _you_ have some too."

Jaw dropping when Blake turned those beautiful amber eyes upon her, Yang sputtered for a few seconds while trying to grasp onto the upper hand she'd just given away.

"I - I mean - wait, you said 'too.' So you _do_ have some!"

When Yang laughed at the admission, Blake smiled and shook her head.

"Pretty sure we both lost that one."

"But is it really losing?" Yang asked as they turned into the hall of their homeroom. After watching Blake shrug and keep that smile in place, Yang turned away only to be surprised by an unexpected visitor.

"Hey, Ruby's lookin' for you!" she said while she and Blake stopped in front of Weiss, who was standing beside the door to their classroom. "Don't want to keep her waiting, do you?"

Instead of a snappy comeback, Weiss snuck a glance at Blake before looking near Yang's right shoulder rather than meeting her eyes.

"I was actually looking for you. I wanted to ask you something."

"Uh...ok…"

Everything about Weiss was off right now. She wasn't making eye contact, she was fidgeting and shuffling her feet uncomfortably, and her back wasn't ramrod straight. The utter weirdness of it made Yang send a concerned glance Blake's way, but Blake only smiled and nodded towards Weiss.

"What is it?" Yang pressed, figuring that Weiss might never speak again unless someone asked a question.

Straightening her posture and clenching one fist, Weiss finally met Yang's eyes with a fair amount of determination but still said nothing when she opened her mouth to speak.

"You're...not gonna try to hit me are you?" Yang asked, gesturing towards Weiss' fist before letting out a small laugh. "Because that might not end well for you..."

"What? Of course not," Weiss finally said, shaking her head and loosening her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she met Yang's gaze once more.

"I just wanted...to ask for your permission to...to ask Ruby out. Like on a date."

The words sank into Yang's mind like slowly-spreading syrup, reaching every nook and cranny and then lighting everything on fire...with excitement. The day had finally arrived. And Weiss used the word 'date!'

When Yang laughed, a flash of worry flitted through Weiss' eyes.

"Of course you can!" she exclaimed before pulling Weiss into a big hug. Weiss stiffened at the unexpected contact but relaxed when Yang lifted her feet off the floor and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Really?" she asked as soon as Yang released her, not at all ruffled about the hug. "You're not going to say that I don't deserve her, or that she's too good for me, or anything like that?"

None of those reasons had popped into Yang's mind. Even if they had, why would she need to say them out loud when Weiss was already thinking them herself?

"If you make her happy, that's good enough for me," Yang answered with a grin. "Plus, I only said you could ask her. I don't know if she'll say yes."

From the expression of dumbfounded shock on Weiss' face, this wasn't at all how she'd expected this conversation to unfold.

"You're not going to make me bribe you with free homework or test answers?"

"Wait, was that an option?" Turning to Blake, Yang grinned at the joke before giving Weiss a friendly tap on the shoulder. "You don't need to give me anything, Weiss. Yes, she's my sister, but if you make her happy then I have no problem with it. It's if you make her _unhappy_ that you should be concerned."

Raising one hand and making a tight fist, Yang gave Weiss her best intimidating look. But Weiss didn't shy away from the unspoken threat in the slightest.

"If I make her unhappy, then I deserve whatever punishment you deem fit," she said instead - an agreement that shocked _Yang_ enough to make her jaw fall open. And then, with her expression softening, Weiss glanced towards the lockers on the opposite side of the hall and whispered, "I only want to make her happy..."

This was a side of Weiss no one had ever seen before - at least, that's how Yang felt in this moment. But it was likely that this was the version of Weiss that _Ruby_ had seen all along.

"You know what this means? We're gonna be sisters!" Yang teased, succeeding in making Weiss blush.

"It's a date, not a proposal," she mumbled towards the floor.

"Yeah, but have you _ever_ failed at _anything_ before in your life?"

With a furrowed brow, Weiss thought about the question long and hard before drawing the same conclusion Yang just made - which was that Ruby either stayed happy _forever,_ or the two of them would have a much more painful conversation.

Accepting the possible outcomes, Weiss smiled - and, for the first time Yang could remember, the gratitude was genuine.

"Thank you," Weiss said to Yang before turning to Blake. "And thank you, Blake. I'll see you both at lunch."

Without another word, Weiss hurried towards the library, where Ruby was probably going crazy searching the aisles for her best friend. As soon as she was out of earshot, however, Yang turned to Blake with more than a little confusion rolling around her overly-excited brain.

"Uh...why did Weiss just thank you?"

"She finally cashed in all the favors she stocked up," Blake explained with a smile. "She asked me to be here to help swing the odds in her favor, even if it was only a little bit."

The disclosure made Yang's jaw drop for the second time in a matter of minutes.

"You're kidding."

"Nope. That's really what she asked for. She even called it a 'huge' favor."

"Let me get this straight…" Yang began slowly. "She had a leg up on her biggest competitor and _instead_ of forcing you to flunk a test or something, she wanted you to help her get a date with Ruby?"

When Blake nodded, Yang's surprise doubled.

"Wow. So...that means she put Ruby before winning. That's...wow."

That was shocking. The only version of Weiss Yang knew would put winning and success before _anything_ else. But apparently she was wrong. There was something Weiss prioritized higher than winning - and that one thing was Ruby.

When Ruby made 'em fall, she made 'em fall _hard._

"It was really sweet of you to respond so positively though," Blake added, reaching out to take Yang's hand - the simple touch more than enough of a reward to encourage even more tolerance for Weiss going forward. "I'm sure that went a long way in easing some of her fears."

"Well, if Ruby found out I wasn't nice to her future girlfriend, I'd be in a _lot_ of trouble," Yang responded as they walked into homeroom together. When Blake dropped her hand, Yang grabbed her customary chair while Blake sat at her desk.

If Yang could go back in time, she'd pick the seat beside Blake, but at least they could talk before class started.

"So," she asked, putting both elbows on the desk and leaning forward to whisper. "How do you think she'll ask?"

"I don't think she's figured that out yet."

"I imagine she'll be super formal about it," Yang guessed - only somewhat jokingly. "'Ruby, I'd like to officially request your company this Friday night for a movie.' Something like that."

"Can I request _your_ company this Friday for a movie?"

"You can have my company any time," Yang answered with a grin while Blake leaned back in her chair.

"Oh, good one. You're getting much better at that."

"At what?"

"You know -" Raising her hands, Blake made a gesture like she was shooting a bow and arrow. Quickly catching on, Yang laughed at what she'd take as a big compliment.

"I learned from the best," she replied with a grin. Her gaze momentarily drifted away from Blake when another classmate walked into the room, but she quickly shifted her full attention back. "You wanna go out for a movie or come over to my place?"

"That depends...if I come over, will we have to watch a slasher movie again?"

"You didn't have to watch that!"

"I know," Blake interrupted, her eyes dancing merrily. "I'm just teasing - it was actually really fun."

When Blake gave her one of those heart-melting smiles, Yang's cheeks warmed at the memory.

It was unplanned, but the movie that satisfied Blake's stipulation of 'shortest so she could get home at a reasonable hour' was a horror film. Undeterred, the two of them watched anyway, and it was way more fun than Yang expected. Her heart raced the entire time, but that had nothing to do with what was happening on the screen and everything to do with the way Blake clung to her arm for dear life.

Clever, beautiful, smart, and a complete sucker when it came to jump scares. Was there anyone more adorable than Blake?

And, because it was late when the movie ended (and not at all because it had been scary), Blake stayed over anyway. Which meant it was Yang's turn to be a bundle of nerves the entire night.

"How about you get to chose the movie this time?" she offered. "Anything you want."

"A horribly cheesy romantic comedy?"

Laughing at the suggestion, she nodded and said, "You got it! Your wish is my command."

"Hmm...I like the sound of that…"

When Blake's eyes flashed in delight, Yang felt a familiar jolt of excitement run through her.

"So…" she said, leaning so far across the desk that their noses practically touched. "We have a date?"

"You know it."

Grinning at the reply, Yang glanced to the side only to jump back in surprise when she found Neptune standing several feet away staring at them. From the way his face was frozen with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, it looked like his brain might have just exploded.

"Oh, hey Neptune," she said casually. The words broke him out of the spell, and he blinked several times.

"It's true?" he asked, rushing over to them. "You two -" When he gestured between the two of them, Yang looked at Blake - who smiled and tilted of her head in approval.

"Yeah, it's true," Yang answered, her heart swelling with happiness at the admission.

Looking between the two of them several more times, Neptune finally broke into a huge grin.

"I'm _totally_ on board with this," he remarked before setting his elbow on the desk and turning to Blake. "I'll have invitations for _you_ tomorrow."

When he sent them both a wink before walking away, Yang laughed and waved off his continued antics.

"Do you think he's gay?" Blake asked as soon as he was out of earshot.

"Neptune?" Yang asked before shaking her head. "I don't think so…"

"He's just so blatantly straight it makes you wonder…" Blake mused. "Think about it. He picks the most beautiful girl in the school to go after but hardly flinches when you keep turning him down. In fact, he's probably relieved you keep saying no." Briefly pausing, Blake shook her head. "It just makes _too_ much sense."

"You...think I'm the most beautiful girl in the school?" Yang asked, feeling light-headed from the magnitude of that compliment. Sure, people called her pretty all the time, but when _Blake_ said it…

After blinking in confusion, Blake smiled and shook her head.

"Is that all you pulled from what I just said?"

"Yeah, you said I was beautiful and then nothing else mattered!"

Reaching forward, Blake took one of Yang's hands in her own and stared deep into Yang's eyes.

"You _are_ the most beautiful girl in school."

There was no way Yang could respond to that, not with what felt like a hundred arrows lodged in her heart.

"Direct hit…" she groaned while clutching at her chest.

"Don't die on me now," Blake joked, reaching out and rubbing Yang's shoulder. "I need you alive for Friday."

"I probably won't _die_. But another concussion, maybe?"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind that," Blake replied, a small grin growing. "You were _very_ forthcoming the last time."

"Ok, you have to tell me what I said!"

After laughing at Yang's whine, Blake gave her a serious expression.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

Even with that response, Blake pretended to mull over her options before finally deciding on an answer.

"You said…" she began, drawing the sentence out. "That you really, _really_ liked me."

While Blake grinned - clearly pleased with the information - Yang's arms and legs went cold as every ounce of blood in her body rushed to her cheeks.

"I...I said what?"

Her disbelief only made Blake's smile grow.

"You said that you really, really like me," Blake repeated. "Only with a few more 'really's thrown in there."

Resisting the urge to burst into flames in embarrassment, Yang asked, "How many?" and nearly groaned out loud from the pleased smirk she received in response.

"A lot," Blake answered plainly.

Putting one palm to her cheek and finding it burning hot, Yang cursed her dumb concussion, which apparently made her a turnstile of emotions. How many 'really's was a lot? Because if it was enough, she might as well have just said that she...well, the other four letter word that came after 'like.'

"Ok, uh...I hope that didn't freak you out or anything," she sputtered out. "I mean, you're just so amazing and I - did I really say that?" she asked, her voice coming out as a squeak.

Leaning across the desk, Blake moved so close that for a second Yang thought they were going to kiss. But Blake stopped mere centimeters away, her eyes searching Yang's while a smile pulled at her lips.

"No," she finally said with a soft giggle while teasingly leaning away. "But don't you?"

That little smile stayed in place while Blake stared at Yang expectantly - for one of the first times appearing nervous about what was asked. Yang's heart pounded in her chest, but she smiled because Blake got her again. She smiled because…

"Yeah," she answered honestly. "Yeah, I do. I really, really, really do."

Relieved by the answer, Blake smiled before simply saying, "Good. Because I do too."

Yang knew that she should probably let the subject drop if she wanted to avoid additional embarrassment, but she wanted to clarify just one thing…

"Really?" she asked, earning herself a knowing expression in return.

"Really...really...really…really..." Blake answered slowly, each subsequent addition making Yang's heart do an elated flip in her chest. Clearing her throat, she tried to stay nonchalant while her pulse thudded happily in her ears.

"That's...that's a lot of reallys."

"I think so too," Blake agreed with a sly grin. "I don't know how many more I can add before it's more efficient to use another word instead."

 _That_ did it. Heartbeat racing to a million miles per hour, Yang found that her mouth had suddenly turned into a desert and her throat became parched as she tried to reply.

"Maybe…" she began before clearing her throat again. "Maybe I can think of one for you."

When Blake smiled, Yang grinned back while her heart did all sorts of crazy things out of pure affection. They were still grinning at each other when the room filled with motion and a big flash of red. It was Blake who looked away first this time - right as Pyrrha walked into the classroom followed closely by the ever-rushing Mr. Oobleck.

"Morning Pyrrha!" Yang called out.

"Good morning, Yang," Pyrrha said with a smile as she passed by. "Happy Monday to you!"

The overly-cheerful greeting made Yang share a knowing look with Blake while Mr. Oobleck dropped his briefcase on the desk, which promptly slid off and hit the floor with a loud thud.

"You should probably get ready for class," Blake said softly. Sighing in disappointment, Yang briefly touched the top of Blake's hand in goodbye before standing up. She'd already put her chair away when she realized one very important thing.

"Wait, but what did I actually say?"

Laughing at the still-unanswered question, Blake waved Yang towards her seat, where Yang reluctantly went after giving Blake one last love-stricken smile. Sure, Blake kept getting the best of her, but she didn't mind one bit.

Quickly catching up to Pyrrha, she decided that a little teasing was in order based on the small smile that refused to leave Pyrrha's lips.

"You saw Jaune again this weekend," she said while watching Pyrrha pull some notebooks out of her bag and set them methodically on top of her desk.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at you! You're practically glowing."

"I believe I'm just reflecting your own glow back at you," Pyrrha teased, nodding over Yang's shoulder towards Blake. Turning around, Yang grinned when she caught Blake's smile.

"Ok, maybe I'm glowing, but _you're_ glowing too." Sitting in her seat, Yang leaned over to Pyrrha's desk and whispered, "So have you kissed yet or what?"

"Yang!"

"What? That's a _reasonable_ question to ask my best friend."

"Well have you two - you know…"

Pyrrha couldn't even ask the question without suffering a mild blush - bless her soul.

"What do you think?" Yang replied with an arched eyebrow. Pyrrha took one look at her and sighed.

"We don't all have to move at your pace, do we?"

Deciding to give her friend a break, Yang reached over and gently shook Pyrrha's shoulder.

"That's right. You take as much time as you need!" she said. "But is this the best year or what?"

"It has started remarkably well."

Her and Blake...Pyrrha and Jaune...

"I just had the most brilliant idea," she whispered while Mr. Oobleck set up for class. "You and Jaune should double date with Blake and me!"

"Well…"

"And then Weiss and Ruby can be our triple!"

"Are they dating?" Pyrrha asked, her expression immediately filled with surprise. With no time to answer, Yang waved one hand and shook her head 'no' while turning towards the front of the class.

"Good morning, students!" Mr. Oobleck shouted at them before straightening his glasses and glancing towards the papers in his hands. "I have several important announcements today -"

Zoning out while he rambled on about something that probably wasn't important, Yang's gaze inevitably drifted to Blake. The instant she did so, she knew Blake felt her stare.

They went over this in detail last week - Blake knew almost exactly when someone was staring at her. At least...almost exactly when _Yang_ was staring at her. Yang hadn't wanted to believe it, but then Blake proceeded to prove it with an interesting game of 'catch the stare-er.' Yang lost, of course. But was she really losing…?

Noticing Blake glimpse her way, Yang grinned and tapped her pen cap against her bottom lip. It was only a few days ago that she realized if she paid close enough attention, she could catch Blake _very_ subtly turning her head and peeking at Yang out of the corner of her eye.

It was nice to know she wasn't the only one staring.

Well, technically she was the only one _staring_ , but Blake took her fair share of glances. Putting her pen to paper, Yang decided that maybe she'd try to count exactly how many times Blake snuck a glimpse…

Paying such close attention to Blake, she jumped in surprise when the bell suddenly rang and everyone started moving around her. Tallying up her scratch marks before tossing everything into her bag, she got to her feet with a grin.

Fifteen. If she caught them all, which she was positive she hadn't.

"I'll see you at lunch?" she asked Pyrrha, accepting the nod before racing to meet Blake at the front of the classroom.

"If I told you the number fifteen, what would you guess it meant?" she asked while the two of them stepped into the crowded hallway together.

"Well...based on how you made a mark in your notebook almost every time I glanced over...I'd say that's the number of times you caught me."

Not even remotely disappointed that Blake already knew the right answer, Yang laughed and nodded.

"You're so brilliant! That's what makes you so much fun!"

Smiling at the compliment, Blake looped her arm through Yang's and pulled them close to navigate through the corridor. Spotting a familiar face, Yang waved to their resident math whiz before two boys careened past them.

"Hey Yang! Hey Blake!" Trevor called out without stopping.

"Trev! Dude, wait up!" the second boy shouted while chasing his friend, their backpacks bouncing awkwardly up and down as they ran through the halls.

Shaking her head at the two bundles of energy, Yang leaned against the row of lockers while Blake quickly spun the combination to unlock her own.

"I was thinking you should sign up for some of the advanced classes next semester," Blake said while pulling the locker door open.

"Ha ha, very funny," Yang replied, but then Blake tilted her head like it wasn't a joke. "You're serious?"

"Yes. It'll be your last semester, so you might as well. You can transfer some of the credits to university too."

"But I'm nowhere _near_ smart enough for those classes."

"That's not true! You're plenty smart. Plus, it's not like you'll without help."

When Yang gave Blake a confused look, she continued as if the answer should have been obvious from the beginning. "I'm more than willing to help you study."

Suddenly, Yang was grinning at the brilliant idea. She'd have some of the same classes with Blake, _and_ they would study together? That sounded like heaven. Well, heaven plus some schoolwork.

"Alright, you've convinced me." Shoving away from the wall when Blake closed her locker, Yang groaned when they started walking away. "But that means we'll classes with Weiss too!"

"Yes, just _imagine_ the opportunities you'll have to tease her," Blake said, pulling Yang close and waving one arm through the air like she was about to paint a picture in front of them. "They'll be nearly endless. And on her turf, too."

The thought made Yang's grin grow even wider.

"Now I'm completely sold. Where do we sign up?"

"Yang!"

At the sound of her name, they both stopped and found Nora running up from behind them.

"Did you hear?" Nora asked as she careened to a stop in front of them, her voice breathless from the run over.

"Hear what?" Yang asked, both surprised and confused by Nora's sudden appearance.

"Emerald! She got kicked off the team!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! Apparently the school board got letters complaining about what she did, and they were forced to kick her off!"

Stunned by the news, Yang turned to Blake - who smiled knowingly - before Nora roughly shook her arm.

"Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah -"

"Just wanted to tell you! Gotta go!" Nora said before releasing Yang and running in the opposite direction, disappearing just as quickly as she'd appeared.

With another smile, Blake turned and walked several paces away while Yang was still rooted to the floor in shock. Shaking herself out of the surprise, she jogged to catch up.

"I'm guessing I have you to thank for that?" she asked, receiving a coy expression from Blake in return.

"I don't know what you're talking about…but I'm glad there were parents as appalled at her behavior as I was."

Grinning at the non-admission, Yang leaned her head in closer to whisper, "So maybe I can…" After glancing both ways down the hall, she cleared her throat. "Thank _you_ later?"

Her cheeks instantly burned at the thought, which only became worse when Blake turned towards her and smirked.

"Why not right now?"

Yang looked around them, at all the students walking to their next classes, before staring at Blake - whose eyes sparkled in amusement.

"In the hall?"

"So you can punch someone in public, but not kiss your girlfriend?"

Yang's cheeks flushed even deeper at the question.

"Well I mean, I just wasn't sure how you felt about it and didn't want to -"

Rolling onto her tiptoes, Blake kissed Yang in the middle of that sentence, in the middle of the hallway. Yang hardly had the opportunity to reciprocate before Blake broke away with a pleased smile.

"Come on," she said while extending one hand. "Don't want to be late to class."

Grinning, Yang took Blake's hand and ignored the whistles of approval from around them. Walking to Blake's class with wings on her feet, Yang's happiness only grew when they arrived right as Weiss was about to head inside.

"Hey Weiss," Yang called out, gaining the girl's attention. "You ask Ruby yet?"

"Are you going to ask that every time you see me?" Weiss asked in return - any agitation at the question lost in her growing blush.

"Yup! I'll keep asking until you do, You really should've known this would happen." When Yang smiled, Weiss pursed her lips but nodded before rushing into the classroom without a word.

Nervous Weiss was awesome.

"I could _so_ get used to this…" Yang said before grinning at Blake. "But Ruby's totally going to say yes."

"I hope so," Blake replied softly. "They seem to really like each other."

"You mean like the way _I_ really, really, really -"

A soft finger pressed against Yang's lips and silenced her before she could complete her list, but she still smiled at Blake - who looked more than a little amused by the number of times they'd used that word this morning alone.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Blake asked playfully.

"Why? Are you looking for something else?"

Yang meant the question as a light tease, but Blake's expression grew thoughtful and caring while she met Yang's eyes.

"No. I've already found everything I was looking for."

When Blake smiled bashfully at the honest reply, Yang grinned and stepped forward so they were that much closer together.

"I feel the same," she admitted.

She hadn't realized that she was searching for someone like Blake, but now that they'd found each other...it just didn't make sense any other way.

Hearing a loud clattering noise echo off the walls, Yang looked down the hall and found that someone had just dropped their school supplies on the ground. Of course, with high schoolers being high schoolers, most people laughed at the display of clumsiness while dodging around the mess.

Following Yang's gaze, Blake squeezed her hand and gave her a knowing smile.

"Duty calls?"

Breaking into a smile of her own, Yang backed away while holding Blake's gaze as long as possible.

"I'll see you at lunch?"

"Always."

Pleased with the answer, Yang turned and jogged a couple of steps to reach the girl, who was hastily collecting her belongings while everyone else rushed around her.

"Hey, need a hand?"

"Don't worry about it," was the mumbled reply, which Yang ignored in favor of kneeling down to collect a few runaway folders.

"Are you a first year?" she asked curiously while pulling one of the folders over before someone stepped on it.

"Yeah…"

Looking at the folder, Yang gasped and held it up in the air.

"You like the AchieveMen?"

The question finally drew the girl's attention, and she nodded slowly, as if unsure whether or not Yang was making fun of her.

"I do too!" Yang answered excitedly. "They're my favorite band! What's your favorite song?"

"Um...probably 'Home.'"

"That one's awesome. My favorite is probably…" Thinking about it, Yang quickly gave up and shook her head. "I can't decide. They're all too good!"

When the girl finally smiled, Yang smiled too - and, glancing over the girl's shoulder, Yang caught Blake's eyes watching the interaction closely from the classroom door. The way Blake smiled made Yang's heart beat happily, as if the two of them were remembering their own moment - the one that brought the two of them together.

Offering help didn't always mean getting into a fight. It didn't always mean shouting at someone or trying to put someone in their place. Sometimes, it meant something as simple as this.

When all of the supplies were collected and the two of them stood up, Yang stuck her hand out to the new girl and smiled.

"I'm Yang, by the way. Welcome to Vale High!"


End file.
